Lobsters are a family of large marine crustaceans.
Dendrobranchiata is a suborder of decapods, commonly known as prawns. There are 540 extant species in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian. They differ from related animals, such as Caridea and Stenopodidea, by the branching form of the gills and by the fact that they do not brood their eggs, but release them directly into the water. They may reach a length of over 330 millimetres (13 in) and a mass of 450 grams (1.0 lb), and are widely fished and farmed for human consumption.
The Decapoda or decapods are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns, and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp and Anomura including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossil decapod is the Devonian Palaeopalaemon.
James Wood-Mason was an English zoologist. He was the director of the Indian Museum at Calcutta, after John Anderson. He collected marine animals and lepidoptera, but is best known for his work on two other groups of insects, phasmids and mantids.
King crabs are a taxon of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab.
The family Polychelidae contains thirty-eight extant species of blind, benthic lobster-like crustaceans. They are found throughout the world's tropical, sub-tropical and temperate oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Irish Sea.
Hippolytidae is a family of cleaner shrimp, also known as broken-back shrimp or anemone shrimp. The term "broken-back shrimp" also applies to the genus Hippolyte in particular and "cleaner shrimp" is sometimes applied exclusively to Lysmata amboinensis.
The family Pandalidae is a taxon of caridean shrimp. These species are commonly called pandalid shrimp. They are edible and have high economic value. They are characterised by the subdivided carpus of the second pereiopod and, mainly, by the lack of the chelae (claws) on the first pereiopod. This is a cold-water family, and their representation in tropical areas is made by deep-sea shrimp. The genus Physetocaris, sometimes placed in this family, is now considered to be in its own family, Physetocarididae.
Crangonidae is a family of shrimp, of the superfamily Crangonoidea, including the commercially important species Crangon crangon. Its type genus is Crangon.
Penaeidae is a family of marine crustaceans in the suborder Dendrobranchiata, which are often referred to as penaeid shrimp or penaeid prawns. The Penaeidae contain many species of economic importance, such as the tiger prawn, whiteleg shrimp, Atlantic white shrimp, and Indian prawn. Many prawns are the subject of commercial fishery, and farming, both in marine settings, and in freshwater farms. Lateral line–like sense organs on the antennae have been reported in some species of Penaeidae. At 210 metres per second (760 km/h), the myelinated giant interneurons of pelagic penaeid shrimp have the world record for impulse conduction speed in any animal.
Metanephrops is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include Metanephrops australiensis and Metanephrops challengeri. It differs from other lobsters such as Homarus and Nephrops norvegicus in that its two main claws are of equal size, rather than being differentiated into a crusher and a pincher. There are 18 extant species recognised in the genus:
Axiidae is a family of thalassinidean crustaceans. It includes the following genera:
Comitas is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Pseudomelatomidae.
Galathea is one of the largest genera of squat lobsters, containing 70 currently recognised species. Most species of Galathea live in shallow waters.
Munidopsis is a genus of squat lobster. It is the second largest of all the genera of squat lobsters, after Munida, with over 200 species. Its members are mainly found on continental slopes and on abyssal plains. A few fossil species are also known, including specimens from the Campanian (Cretaceous).
Nephropsis rosea, sometimes called the rosy lobsterette or two-toned lobsterette, is a species of lobster.
Solenoceridae is a family of decapods, containing 10 genera. They are marine, inhabiting shallow and offshore waters from the mid-continental shelf, ranging from depths to 1000 meters deep, and are sometimes confused with other commercial shrimp species.
Solenocera is a genus of prawns in the family Solenoceridae. Solenocera occur from 0 to 2,067 meters deep in the ocean.
Acanthephyra is a genus of shrimp in the family Acanthephyridae, with species that live at depths from 0 to 5422.5 meters below the ocean surface.
