The family Thaumastochelidae contains five known species of deep-sea

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

s, three in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Thaumastocheles'', and two in the genus ''Thaumastochelopsis''. The fifth species was discovered in the ten–year Census of Marine Life. These creatures are distinguished from other clawed lobsters by their

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

(an adaptation to deep-sea life), and by their single elongated, spiny chela. The family Thaumastochelidae is now more usually subsumed into the lobster family Nephropidae.

Species

The five species are as follows: *''Thaumastocheles'' **''Thaumastocheles dochmiodon'' Chan & de Saint Laurent, 1999 is found in the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

. **''Thaumastocheles japonicus'' Calman, 1913, the "Pacific pincer lobster", is endemic to the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. **''Thaumastocheles zaleucus'' Thomson, 1873, the "Atlantic pincer lobster" or "Atlantic deep-sea lobster", is endemic to the Caribbean region. NMNH-IZ1068658DORSAL-000001Thaumastocheles_zaleucus

NMNH-IZ1068658DORSAL-000001Thaumastocheles_zaleucus

*''Thaumastochelopsis'' **''Thaumastochelopsis brucei'' Ahyong, Chu & Chan, 2007 lives in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

. **''Thaumastochelopsis wardi'' Bruce, 1988, the "Australian pincer lobster", lives in the Coral Sea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3519647 True lobsters Decapod families