Thaumastochelidae

Thaumastochelidae
	Thaumastocheles massonktenos
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Superfamily:	Nephropoidea
Family:	Thaumastochelidae; Bate, 1888
Genera
	Thaumastocheles Wood-Mason, 1874; Thaumastochelopsis Bruce, 1988

The family Thaumastochelidae contains five known species of deep-sea lobsters, three in the genus Thaumastocheles, and two in the genus Thaumastochelopsis. The fifth species was discovered in the ten–year Census of Marine Life.^[1]^[2] These creatures are distinguished from other clawed lobsters by their blindness (an adaptation to deep-sea life), and by their single elongated, spiny chela.^[3]

The family Thaumastochelidae is now more usually subsumed into the lobster family Nephropidae.^[4]

The five species are as follows:

Thaumastocheles
- Thaumastocheles dochmiodon Chan & de Saint Laurent, 1999 is found in the Timor Sea.
- Thaumastocheles japonicus Calman, 1913, the "Pacific pincer lobster", is endemic to the Sea of Japan.
- Thaumastocheles zaleucus Thomson, 1873, the "Atlantic pincer lobster" or "Atlantic deep-sea lobster", is endemic to the Caribbean region.
Thaumastochelopsis
- Thaumastochelopsis brucei Ahyong, Chu & Chan, 2007 lives in the Coral Sea.
- Thaumastochelopsis wardi Bruce, 1988, the "Australian pincer lobster", lives in the Coral Sea.

References[edit]

^ "Image Gallery". Census of Marine Life. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
^ "Deep sea oddities and more from the Census of Marine Life". Fox News. 2009-11-23.
^ A. J. Bruce (1988). "Thaumastochelopsis wardi, gen. et. sp. nov., a new blind deep-sea lobster from the coral sea (Crustacea : Decapoda : Nephropidea)" (PDF). Invertebrate Taxonomy. 2 (7): 903–914. doi:10.1071/it9880903.
^ Tin-Yam Chan (2009). "Nephropidae Dana, 1852". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 24 July 2017.

[1] "Image Gallery". Census of Marine Life. Retrieved 2009-11-27.

[2] "Deep sea oddities and more from the Census of Marine Life". Fox News. 2009-11-23.

[Bruce-3] A. J. Bruce (1988). "Thaumastochelopsis wardi, gen. et. sp. nov., a new blind deep-sea lobster from the coral sea (Crustacea : Decapoda : Nephropidea)" (PDF). Invertebrate Taxonomy. 2 (7): 903–914. doi:10.1071/it9880903.

[WoRMS-4] Tin-Yam Chan (2009). "Nephropidae Dana, 1852". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 24 July 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Genera of Nephropidae (clawed lobsters)
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Order Decapoda Infraorder Astacidea Family Nephropidae
Acanthacaris (2 extant sp.) Dinochelus (1 extant sp.) Eunephrops (4 extant sp.) Homarinus (1 extant sp.) Homarus (2 extant sp.) Hoploparia † Jagtia † Metanephrops (18 extant sp.) Nephropides (1 extant sp.) Nephrops (1 extant sp.) Nephropsis (15 extant sp.) Oncopareia † Palaeonephrops † Paraclythia † Pseudohomarus † Thaumastocheles (3 extant sp.) Thaumastochelopsis (2 extant sp.) Thymopides (2 extant sp.) Thymops (1 extant sp.) Thymopsis (1 extant sp.)