''Metanephrops'' is a genus of
lobster
Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...
s, commonly known as
scampi. Important species for
fishery
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
include ''
Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and ''
Metanephrops challengeri
''Metanephrops challengeri'' (common name, commonly known as the New Zealand lobster or New Zealand scampi) is a species of slim, pink lobster that lives around the coast of New Zealand. It is typically long and weighs around . The carapace and ...
'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from other lobsters 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 genus ...
'' and ''
Nephrops norvegicus
''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is n ...
'' in that its two main
claw
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...
s are of equal size, rather than being differentiated into a ''crusher'' and a ''pincher''. There are 18 extant species recognised in the genus:
*''
Metanephrops andamanicus
''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 ...
''
(Wood-Mason, 1891)
*''
Metanephrops arafurensis
''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 ...
''
(De Man, 1905)
*''
Metanephrops armatus
''Metanephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include ''Australian scampi, Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and ''Metanephrops challengeri'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from ...
''
Chan & Yu, 1991
*''
Metanephrops australiensis''
(Bruce, 1966)
*''
Metanephrops binghami
''Metanephrops binghami'', the Caribbean lobster or Caribbean lobsterette, is a lobster which inhabits the western Atlantic region: from the Bahamas and southern Florida to French Guiana, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
T ...
''
(Boone, 1927)
*''
Metanephrops boschmai
''Metanephrops boschmai'', known as the Bight lobster, Bight scampi or Boschma's scampi, is a species of lobster endemic to Western Australia.
Distribution and habitat
''M. boschmai'' is found around the west coasts of Australia, from Port Hedl ...
''
(Holthuis, 1964)
*''
Metanephrops challengeri
''Metanephrops challengeri'' (common name, commonly known as the New Zealand lobster or New Zealand scampi) is a species of slim, pink lobster that lives around the coast of New Zealand. It is typically long and weighs around . The carapace and ...
''
(Balss, 1914)
*''
Metanephrops formosanus
''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 ...
''
Chan & Yu, 1987
*''
Metanephrops japonicus
''Metanephrops japonicus'' is a species of lobster found in Japanese waters, and a gourmet food in Japanese cuisine. It occurs from Chōshi, Chiba Prefecture (Honshu
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan ...
''
(Tapparone-Canefri, 1873)
*''
Metanephrops mozambicus''
Macpherson, 1990
*''
Metanephrops neptunus
''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 ...
''
(Bruce, 1965)
*''
Metanephrops rubellus
''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 ...
''
(Moreira, 1903)
*''
Metanephrops sagamiensis
''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 ...
''
(Parisi, 1917)
*''
Metanephrops sibogae
''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 ...
''
(De Man, 1916)
*''
Metanephrops sinensis
''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 ...
''
(Bruce, 1966)
*''
Metanephrops taiwanicus
''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 s ...
''
(Hu, 1983)
*''
Metanephrops thomsoni
''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 ...
''
(Bate, 1888)
*''
Metanephrops velutinus
''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 ...
''
Chan & Yu, 1991
A further three species are known from fossils:
*''
Metanephrops jenkinsi
''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 ...
''
Feldmann, 1989 –
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...
*''
Metanephrops motunauensis''
Jenkins, 1972 –
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Metanephrops rossensis
''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 su ...](_blank)
''
Feldmann ''et al.'', 1993 – Late Cretaceous
Habitat
''Metanephrops'' inhabit burrows located in sticky soft substrate that they build themselves.
They typically live at depths ranging between 50-994m below the surface of the ocean, but are found in greater abundances at 150m or deeper.
This classifies them as a "deep sea lobster" since they inhabit a region below 50m under the surface of the ocean.
Occurrences of ''Metanephrops'' are prevalent on the west side of ocean basins, especially the Indo-West-Pacific, ranging from latitudes of 35
∘N to 50
∘S. Only two of the extant species of ''Metanephrops'' inhabit the western basin of the Atlantic Ocean. ''M. binghami'' resides in the Gulf of Mexico and around the Caribbean and Cuba; while ''M. rubellus'' resides off of the southern coast of Brazil and off the coast of Uruguay.
Diet
''Metanephrops'' are scavengers like most lobsters. They consume a diet largely consisting of the corpses pelagic and benthic species that have fallen to the sea floor. Specific examples of their typical diet include small marine organisms such as plankton and parasites, ghost shark (''Hydrolagus novaezealandiae''), silver warehou (''Seriolella punctata''), tall sea pen (''Funiculina quadrangularis'') and the salp (''Ihlea racovitzai'').
Reproduction
The unique reproductive habits of ''Metanephrops'' are poorly understood due to the difficulty of getting individuals of ''Metanephrops'' to mate in captivity. However, their mating habits appear to follow that of most genera of lobster, with copulation occurring after a female moults. Successful instances of copulation were observed to occur when the male was larger and stronger than the female and was able to turn the female over and pin her down in order for copulation to occur. In one study, viable eggs were produced 3 days following an instance where sperm uptake was successful after copulation. However, the eggs did not hatch for another 222 days, meaning that the total time from spawning to hatch was 225 days.
Development and Morphology
''Metanephrops'' begin their lives in a platonic larval stage that must undergo several cycles of multing to reach maturity. During these molting phases, some postlarval aspects of a mature ''Metanephrops'' become apparent with each subsequent molt. The ''Metanephrops'' larva is a zoea larva shared by many other crustaceans, and the time spent in this state is approximately 4-8 days.
Before entering the zoea stage of larval development, newly hatched instances of ''Metanephrops'' are surrounded by a cuticle that encompass all appendages, though this stage lacks armed process on the first and second antenna and telson. This stage, like the zoea larval stage, is also typical in decopods.
This pre-zoea stage is extremely short lived in individuals that will proceed to enter the zoea larval stage, lasting for only a few minutes to a few hours.
Upon entering the zoea larval stage individuals of ''Metanephrops'' are typically 10-15mm long and bear notably well developed eyes that are stalked with small cornea. The zoea larva of ''Metanephrops'' are semi-opaque, but a system of red/orange chromatophores create a visible spot on the abdomen. After the zoea larval stage, ''Metanephrops'' enter a juvenile post larval stage characterized by the presence of all adult characteristics. This is especially apparent in the transferring of locomotion to the abdominal by use of pleopods to walk like other genera of lobsters, as opposed to primary locomotion being swimming as in the larval stage. However, it is likely that they retain some ability to swim through their pleopods and uropods.
Origin
''Metanephrops'' first appeared in the fossils record in the late Cretaceous. Specimens were found on the eastern side of the Antarctic peninsula. Stratigraphic, geographic and cladistic evidence suggest that ''Metanephrops'' developed in high southern latitudes.
Fishing
Certain species of ''Metanephrops,'' such as ''Metanephrops challengeri,'' support commercial fisheries on and off the continental shelf and slope of New Zealand.
Scampi make burrows in muddy substrates, and fisheries use a number of methods such as photographic and burrow analysis methods to determine scampi emergency patterns in order to assess catchability. This data suggests that roughly half of all scampi burrows are occupied at any given time.
Scampi have been targeted by trawl fisheries since the late 1980's. At that time landings were between 800-1000 tons per year for the species ''Metanephrops challengeri.'' SInce then landings ''for M. challengeri'' have fallen to between 600 - 800 tons per year in recent years.
References
True lobsters
Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances
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