Furry lobsters (sometimes called coral lobsters) are small decapod

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, closely related to the

slipper lobster Slipper lobsters are a family (Scyllaridae) of about 90 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda clade Reptantia, found in all warm oceans and seas. They are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lo ...

s and

spiny lobster Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

s. The antennae are not as enlarged as in spiny and slipper lobsters, and the body is covered in short

hairs Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

, hence the name furry lobster. Although previously considered a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

in their own right (Synaxidae Spence Bate, 1881), the furry lobsters were subsumed into the family

Palinuridae Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

in 1990,. Subsequent

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

s studies have confirmed that the furry lobsters genera don't form a natural group and were both nested among the spiny lobster genera in family Palinuridae. The family now includes the two furry lobster genera and ten spiny lobster genera.

Taxonomy

There are two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, with three

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

between them: *''Palinurellus gundlachi''

Von Martens Eduard von Martens (18 April 1831 – 14 August 1904) also known as ''Carl'' or ''Karl Eduard von Martens'', was a German zoologist. Born in Stuttgart in 1831, von Martens attended university in Tübingen, where he graduated in 1855. He then mov ...

, 1878 – Caribbean furry lobster, found in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

; named for

Juan Gundlach Juan Cristóbal Gundlach (17 July 1810 in Marburg – 14 March 1896 in Havana), born Johannes Christoph Gundlach was a Cuban naturalist and taxonomist. Biography Gundlach graduated from Marburg University, where his father was professor of phys ...

*''Palinurellus wieneckii'' ( De Man, 1881) – mole lobster, with an

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

distribution *'' Palibythus magnificus'' P. J. F. Davie, 1990 – musical furry lobster, from the South Pacific (originally described from

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1470059 Achelata Arthropod common names Taxa named by Juan Gundlach