''Sagmariasus verreauxi'' 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
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 ...
that lives around northern
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, the
Kermadec Islands
The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total ar ...
the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
and
Australia from
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
to
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
.
It is probably the longest
decapod crustacean in the world, alongside the
American lobster ''Homarus americanus'', growing to lengths of up to .
Names
The species has many
common names in English, including ''Australian crayfish'', ''common crayfish'', ''common Sydney crayfish'', ''eastern crayfish'', ''eastern rock lobster'', ''green cray'', ''green crayfish'', ''green lobster'', ''green rock lobster'', ''marine crayfish'', ''New South Wales spiny lobster'', ''packhorse crayfish'', ''packhorse lobster'', ''sea crayfish'', ''smooth-tailed crayfish'' and ''Sydney crayfish''.
In
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
, it is called '.
''S. verreauxi'' was formerly included in the genus ''
Jasus
''Jasus'' is a genus of spiny lobsters which live in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. They have two distinct "horns" projecting from the front of the carapace, but lack the stridulating organs present in almost all other genera of spiny ...
'', but has been separated into a
monotypic genus
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
''Sagmariasus'' due to the lack of sculpturation on the abdomen, which is found in all other ''Jasus'' species.
The name ''Sagmarasius''
derives from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(''sagmarion''), meaning
packhorse, and the genus name ''Jasus'', in reference to the common name "packhorse crayfish".
References
Further reading
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17979162, from2=Q5414661
Achelata
Edible crustaceans
Monotypic decapod genera
Marine crustaceans of New Zealand
Taxa named by Lipke Holthuis