''Scyllarus pygmaeus'' 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 ...

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 ...

that lives in shallow water 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 ...

and eastern

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 ...

. It grows to a length of , which is too small for it to be fished for. The juvenile form was first described in 1885, with the description of the adult following in 1888 as a result of the ''Challenger'' expedition.

Description

''S. pygmaeus'' is the smallest slipper lobster species, with a carapace length of for females, and for males. The total body length can reach , but is typically less than . Its small size precludes ''S. pygmaeus'' from being a target for fisheries. The body of ''S. pygmaeus'' is "pale brownish or pinkish with patches of darker hairs". ''S. pygmaeus'' resembles a young individual of ''

Scyllarus arctus ''Scyllarus arctus'' is a species of slipper lobster which lives in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is uncommon in British and Irish waters, but a number of English-language vernacular names have been applied, including '' ...

'', with which it occurs in sympatry. The two species can be distinguished by a suite of characters: *The anterior part of the

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso ...

tergite A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'mar ...

s have a groove lined with hairs in ''S. pygmaeus'' but not in ''S. arctus''. *''S. arctus'' has a forward-pointing, pointed tip to the second abdominal

sternites The sternum (pl. "sterna") is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen. In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external. However, they can sometimes be divided in two or more, in which case the ...

, while in ''S. pygmaeus'' it is rounded and points backwards. *''S. pygmaeus'' has a conical

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

on the fifth thoracic somite, while the tubercle is compressed rather than conical in ''S. arctus''. *The sculptured posterior part of the first abdominal somite is wider in the centre than at the edges in ''S. pygmaeus'', while in ''S. arctus'' it is an even width throughout.

Distribution and ecology

''Scyllarus pygmaeus'' has a wide distribution in the

and islands in the eastern

, including Madeira, the Canary Islands and the

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. It has not been observed off the coast of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

further east than

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. It lives at depths of , where it is nocturnal and at its shallower ranges lives in ''

Posidonia ''Posidonia'' is a genus of flowering plants. It contains nine species of marine plants ("seagrass"), found in the seas of the Mediterranean and around the south coast of Australia. The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) accept this ge ...

'' meadows. Females carry

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in June and August.

Taxonomic history

''Scyllarus pygmaeus'' was first described in 1888 by

Charles Spence Bate Charles Spence Bate, FRS (March 16, 1819 – July 29, 1889) was a British zoologist and dentist. Life He was born at Trenick House near Truro, the son of Charles Bate (1789–1872) and Harriet Spence (1788–1879). Charles adopted "Spence Bate" ...

as part of the results of the ''Challenger'' expedition. He based his description of "''Arctus pygmaeus''" on material from "off Gomera" in the Canary Islands. In the same publication, he also described "''Arctus immaturus''" from the Cape Verde archipelago, which

Eugène Louis Bouvier Eugène Louis Bouvier (9 April 1856, in Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux – 14 January 1944, in Paris) was a French entomologist and carcinologist. Bouvier was a professor at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Biography Following graduation at ...

realised in 1915 was simply the "nisto" ( juvenile) stage of ''S. pygmaeus''. Applying the principle of first reviser, Bouvier established that ''S. pygmaeus'' would be the valid name, over ''S. immaturus''. Although ''S. pygmaeus'' is not rare in the

, its presence there was overlooked for decades, due to the confusion between it and the more conspicuous ''S. arctus'', whose immature form ''S. pygmaeus'' was often assumed to be. In 1960, Jacques Forest and

Lipke Holthuis Lipke Bijdeley Holthuis (21 April 1921 – 7 March 2008) was a Dutch carcinologist, considered one of the "undisputed greats" of carcinology, and "the greatest carcinologist of our time". Holthuis was born in Probolinggo, East Java and obtained ...

demonstrated for the first time that ''S. pygmaeus'' does indeed occur in the Mediterranean Sea, from museum specimens at the ' in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. The juvenile "nisto" form of ''S. pygmaeus'' was named earlier than the adult form; Sarado described it in 1885 under the name ''Nisto laevis'' in his 1885 work ' ("Study of the crustaceans of Nice"). The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

vernacular name A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

preferred by the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

is ''pygmy locust lobster'', alongside the French ' and the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5415350 Achelata Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1888