''Thymopides'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of deep-water

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

s, comprising the two species ''Thymopides grobovi'' and ''Thymopides laurentae''.

Distribution

Two species are included in the genus ''Thymopides''. *''Thymopides grobovi'' is found around

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land ...

and the

Kerguelen Archipelago The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic region. They are among the most isolated places on Earth, with the closest t ...

in the southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

at depths of . *''Thymopides laurentae'' is only known from a single

hydrothermal vent Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...

on the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

at a depth of ().

Description

''Thymopides'' differs from related genera such as ''

Homarus ''Homarus'' is a genus of lobsters, which include the common and commercially significant species ''Homarus americanus'' (the American lobster) and '' Homarus gammarus'' (the European lobster). The Cape lobster, which was formerly in this genu ...

'', ''

Homarinus The Cape lobster, ''Homarinus capensis'', is a species of small lobster that lives off the coast of South Africa, from Dassen Island to Haga Haga. Only a few dozen specimens are known, mostly regurgitated by reef-dwelling fish. It lives in rock ...

'' and ''

Nephrops ''Nephrops'' is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant species, '' Nephrops norvegicus'' (the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn), and several fossil species. It was erected by William Elford Leach in 1814, to accommodate ''N. norvegicus' ...

'' in having the first pair of pereiopods of similar size and shape, rather than one "crusher" and one "cutter" claw. It differs from others, such as ''

Metanephrops ''Metanephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include '' Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and '' Metanephrops challengeri'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from other lobsters ...

'' and ''

Eunephrops ''Eunephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, containing four species, all found in the Western Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It cove ...

'' by the lack of a

carina Carina may refer to: Places Australia * Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura Serbia * Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District ...

behind the antennal

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Spinal column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoology), ...

, by the smaller size of some spines and by the smaller, unpigmented eyes.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by R. N. Burukovsky and B. S. Averin in 1976 under the name ''Bellator'', the Latine word for "warrior", in a paper in the ''

Russian Journal of Zoology Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

'' (, '). After

Lipke Holthuis Lipke Bijdeley Holthuis (21 April 1921 – 7 March 2008) was a Dutch carcinologist, considered one of the "undisputed greats" of carcinology, and "the greatest carcinologist of our time". Holthuis was born in Probolinggo, East Java and obtained ...

informed the authors that a genus already existed called ''

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

'', they published a

replacement name In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' (Latin for "new name"), replacement name (or new replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a replacement scientific name that is created when technical, nomenclatural reasons have mad ...

in a paper in the journal ''

Crustaceana ''Crustaceana'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal specialising in carcinology. It was established in 1960 and is published monthly by Brill Publishers. The journal is abstracted and indexed by BIOSIS Previews, the Science Citation Index, The ...

''. That new name was ''Thymopides'', referring to the close resemblance between the new genus and the genus ''

Thymops ''Thymops birsteini'', the Patagonian lobsterette, is a species of lobster found around the coasts of South America, particularly the South Atlantic. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Thymops''. Distribution ''T. birsteini'' is found on the co ...

''. In 2003, a second species was described, ''T. laurentae'', commemorating

Michèle de Saint Laurent Michèle de Saint Laurent (December 9, 1926 – July 11, 2003) was a French carcinologist. She spent most of her career at the ' in Paris, working on the systematics of decapod crustaceans; her major contributions were to hermit crabs and Thalass ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q17986909 True lobsters Taxa named by Enrique Macpherson