''Polycheles sculptus'' is a

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 ...

of "strange, blind crustacean" resembling a

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...

or a

squat lobster Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside ...

. It has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...

in deep water, being found on both sides of the

Atlantic Ocean 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 ...

, in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, and across much of the

Indo-West 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 ...

, at depths of .

Gallery

File:Polycheles sculptus MNHN.jpg, ''Polycheles sculptus'' on display File:Decapoda reptantia of the coasts of Ireland (1914) (20656358148).jpg, Illustration from ''Decapoda reptantia of the coasts of Ireland'' File:Stereomastis sculpta (syn. Polycheles sculptus).jpg, ''Stereomastis sculpta'' (syn. ''Polycheles sculptus'') on display (colors have faded)

References

Polychelida Arthropods of the Dominican Republic Crustaceans described in 1880 Taxa named by Sidney Irving Smith Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{decapoda-stub