''Sagmariasus verreauxi'' is a species of spiny lobster that lives around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands the Chatham Islands and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

from Queensland to Tasmania. It is probably the longest

decapod crustacean The Decapoda or decapods (literally "ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estima ...

in the world, alongside the

American lobster The American lobster (''Homarus americanus'') is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. It is also known as Atlantic lobster, Canadian lobster, true lobster, norther ...

''Homarus americanus'', growing to lengths of up to .

Names

The species has many

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s in English, including ''Australian crayfish'', ''common crayfish'', ''common Sydney crayfish'', ''eastern crayfish'', ''eastern rock lobster'', ''green cray'', ''green crayfish'', ''green lobster'', ''green rock lobster'', ''marine crayfish'', ''New South Wales spiny lobster'', ''packhorse crayfish'', ''packhorse lobster'', ''sea crayfish'', ''smooth-tailed crayfish'' and ''Sydney crayfish''. In Māori, it is called '. ''S. verreauxi'' was formerly included in the genus ''

Jasus ''Jasus'' is a genus of spiny lobsters which live in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. They have two distinct " horns" projecting from the front of the carapace, but lack the stridulating organs present in almost all other genera of spi ...

'', but has been separated into a monotypic genus ''Sagmariasus'' due to the lack of sculpturation on the abdomen, which is found in all other ''Jasus'' species. The name ''Sagmarasius'' derives from the Greek (''sagmarion''), meaning

packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

, and the genus name ''Jasus'', in reference to the common name "packhorse crayfish".

Names

References

Further reading