Chace, 1939

Diagnosis:
A medium-sized lobster. Body cylindrical. Carapace granular, with a well developed median rostrum armed with lateral teeth, but none on dorsal mid-line, no ventral teeth, and without longitudinal ridges behind the cervical groove. Without a pair of spines dorsally on carapace behind the cervical groove. Eyes well developed and pigmented. Antennae long and whip-like. Antennal scale reaching to the base of the ultimate segment of the antennal peduncle. Spine on antennal peduncle near base of anntennal scale. Tail powerful with a well developed tail fan, not conspicuously granulate. Abdominal somites with distinct longitudinal median carina. First 3 pairs of legs ending in true chelae. First pair long and stout with large, flattened, naked fingers. Second pereiopod with fingers less than 1/3 as long as palm. Third pereiopod with the fingers about 1/3 of the length of the palm.

Type:
Type locality: "Nicholas Channel south of Cay Sal Bank, Lat. 23°21 'N, Long. 79°58"W, 300-315 fathoms [ = 550-576 m]". Holotype female in MCZ.

Geographical Distribution:
Western Atlantic: off Bahama Islands and Dominica; Caribbean Sea near Jamaica and Colombia.

Habitat and Biology:
Depth range between 434 and 591 m.

Size:
Maximum total body length (males) about 30 cm. Carapace length 5-14 cm (males), 4-5 cm (females).

Interest to Fisheries:
The large size, that the species may attain, makes it of potential interest to fisheries. Its apparent scarcity and the fact that it inhabits great depths, however, are important obstacles.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Suborder Macrura Reptantia
Superfamily Nephropoidea
Family Nephropidae
Subfamily Nephropinae
Genus Eunephrops
Species Eunephrops cadenasi

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Eunephrops cadenasi Chace, 1939

Scientific synonyms and common names

Eunephrops cadenasi Chace, 1939

Synonyms:
Eunephrops cadenasi Chace, 1939, Memorias Sociedad Cubana Historia natural, 13: 40.

FAO Names:
Sculptured lobster [English]

Chace, F.A., 1939. Reports on the scientific results of the first Atlantis Expedition to the West Indies, under the joint auspices of the University of Havana and Harvard University. Preliminary descriptions of one new genus and seventeen new species of decapod and stomatopod Crustacea. Memorias Sociedad Cubana Historia natural, 13: 31-54.

Holthuis, L.B., 1974. The lobsters of the superfamily Nephropidea of the Atlantic Ocean (Crustacea: Decapoda). Biological results of the University of Miami deep-sea expeditions. 106. Bulletin marine Science University Miami, 24: 723-884, figs 1-35.

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