Nephropsis atlantica
Encyclopedia
Nephropsis atlantica, sometimes called the scarlet lobsterette or scarlet clawed lobster, is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...

 from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

.

Description

Nephropsis atlantica is relatively small for a lobster, growing to a maximum total length of 103 millimetres (4.1 in).

Distribution

Nephropsis atlantica is found on muddy substrates in deep waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, from the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

 to Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. It has been recorded at depths of 470 metre, but is most frequent at 900 metre.

Taxonomy

Nephropsis atlantica was first described
Alpha taxonomy
Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...

 by the Reverend Canon Alfred Merle Norman
Alfred Merle Norman
Alfred Merle Norman was an English clergyman and naturalist.-Early life:Norman was born in Exeter, England in 1831. His father was a landowner, surgeon and Deputy-Lieutenant of Somerset. He studied the molluscs and plants of Somerset at young age. He studied at Winchester College from 1844 to 1848...

 in a report sent to Charles Wyville Thomson
Charles Wyville Thomson
Sir Charles Wyville Thomson was a Scottish zoologist and chief scientist on the Challenger expedition.-Career:...

 in 1880, and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1882. The report was one of several published simultaneously on the various organisms dredged up by the ship Knight Errant in the Faroe–Shetland Channel. Norman's report opens "I send a list; it is a very interesting one", and goes on to detail species known from previous expeditions to the North Atlantic and three new species – Ampelisca compacta (Amphipoda
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...

: Ampeliscidae
Ampeliscidae
Ampeliscidae is a family of amphipods, distinct enough to warrant placement in a monotypic superfamily Ampeliscoidea. They are benthic, found at the bottom of seas and oceans. They are distributed worldwide, and are often abundant in areas with fine sediments...

), Halirages elegans (Amphipoda
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...

: Calliopiidae
Calliopiidae
Calliopiidae is a family of amphipods, containing the following genera:*Amphithopsis Boeck, 1861*Apherusa Walker, 1891*Bouvierella Chevreux, 1900*Calliopiella Schellenberg, 1925*Calliopiurus Bushueva, 1986...

) and Nephropsis atlantica. The type specimens were collected on August 10, 1880 at at a depth of 555 fathoms (1,015 m); they are presumed to have been lost since.
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