Nephrops

Nephrops
Temporal range: Oligocene–Recent
Nephrops norvegicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Family: Nephropidae
Genus: Nephrops
Leach, 1814
Type species
Nephrops norvegicus

Nephrops is a genus of lobsters comprising a three extant species and several fossil species. The best known is Nephrops norvegicus, the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn. It was erected by William Elford Leach in 1814, to accommodate N. norvegicus alone, which had previously been placed in genera such as Cancer, Astacus or Homarus. The genus name Nephrops comes from Ancient Greek νεφρός (nephrós) 'kidney', and ὄψ (óps) 'eye', and refers to the shape of the animal's compound eye.

Although the species in the genus Metanephrops were previously included in Nephrops, molecular phylogenetics suggests that the two genera are not sister taxa, Nephrops being more closely related to Homarus than either is to Metanephrops.

The extant species with taxonomic authority and common name:

Most of the fossil species assigned to the genus Nephrops are known only from partial remains, and their affinities are not certain. They include:

References

  1. ↑ William Elford Leach (1830). "Crustaceology". In David Brewster (ed.). The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. Vol. 7. pp. 383–437.
  2. ↑ Tin-Yam Chan; Ka Chai Ho; Chi Pang Li; Ka Hou Chu (2009). "Origin and diversification of the clawed lobster genus Metanephrops (Crustacea: Decapoda: Nephropidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 50 (3): 411–422. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.11.020. PMID 19070670.
  3. ↑ Palomares, M.L.D.; Pauly, D., eds. (February 2026). "Scientific Names where Genus Equals Nephrops". SeaLifeBase (University of British Columbia).
  4. ↑ Richard J. F. Jenkins (1972). "Metanephrops, a new genus of Late Pliocene to Recent lobsters (Decapoda, Nephropidae)". Crustaceana. 22 (2): 161–177. doi:10.1163/156854072X00426. JSTOR 20101873.