Eunephrops cadenasi, sometimes called the sculptured 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...

 found in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

.

Description

Eunephrops cadenasi is a medium-sized lobster with a cylindrical body. Adult male individuals of Eunephrops cadenasi reach a total length of 30 centimetres (11.8 in), and a carapace

Carapace

A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...

 length of 5 centimetre, while females only reach a carapace length of 4 centimetre. The first three pairs of legs bear claw

Claw

A claw is a curved, pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger in most mammals, birds, and some reptiles. However, the word "claw" is also often used in reference to an invertebrate. Somewhat similar fine hooked structures are found in arthropods such as beetles and spiders, at the end...

s, of which the first pair are enlarged.

Distribution

The natural range of Eunephrops cadenasi extends from the seas off the Bahamas and Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

 southwards to Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 and Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. They have been collected from depths of 434–591 m (1,423.9–1,939 ).

Taxonomic history

Eunephrops cadenasi was named by Fenner A. Chace, Jr.

Fenner A. Chace, Jr.

Fenner Albert Chace, Jr. was an American carcinologist. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, and studied at Harvard University, before becoming a curator at that university's Museum of Comparative Zoology...

 in 1939; the type locality was at a depth of 300–315 fathom (548.6–576.1 ) at "Nicholas Channel

Nicholas Channel

Nicholas Channel is a strait off the northwestern coast of Cuba. It lies east of Havana. It separates Cuba from the most southwestern of the islands of the Bahamas....

 south of Cay Sal Bank

Cay Sal Bank

Cay Sal Bank is the third largest and the westernmost of the Bahama Banks. It is located between 23º27'N - 24º10'N and 079º25'W – 080º35'W...

" , north of the island of Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. The specific epithet cadenasi commemorates José Manuel Cadenas y Aguilera, Rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of the University of Havana

University of Havana

The University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...

.