Cape lobster

Cape lobster
Herbst's 1792 illustration
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Family: Nephropidae
Genus: Homarinus
Kornfield, Williams & Steneck, 1995 
Species:
H. capensis
Binomial name
Homarinus capensis
(Herbst, 1792) 
Synonyms 
  • Cancer (Astacus) capensis Herbst, 1792
  • Astacus fulvus Fabricius, 1793
  • Homarus fulvus Weber, 1795
  • Astacus capensis Latreille, 1802
  • Cancer (Astacus) fulvusTurton, 1806

The Cape lobster, Homarinus capensis, is a species of small lobster that lives off the coast of South Africa, from Dassen Island to Haga Haga. Only a few dozen specimens are known, mostly regurgitated by reef-dwelling fish. It lives in rocky reefs, and is thought to lay large eggs that have a short larval phase, or that hatch directly as a juvenile. The species grows to a total length of 10 cm (3.9 in), and resembles a small European or American lobster; it was previously included in the same genus, Homarus, although it is not very closely related to those species, and is now considered to form a separate, monotypic genus – Homarinus. Its closest relatives are the genera Thymops and Thymopides.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.