The family Thaumastochelidae contains five known species of deep-sea 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...

s, three in the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Thaumastocheles, and two in the genus Thaumastochelopsis. The fifth species was discovered in the ten–year Census of Marine Life

Census of Marine Life

The Census of Marine Life was a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans...

. These creatures are distinguished from other clawed lobsters by their blindness

Blind animals

Visual perception plays an important role in the animal kingdom, most notably for the identification of food sources, and avoidance of predators. For this reason, blindness in animals is a unique topic of study....

 (an adaptation to deep-sea life), and by their single elongated, spiny chela

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...

. The four species so far named are as follows:

• Thaumastocheles
  • Thaumastocheles dochmiodon Chan & de Saint Laurent, 1999 is found in the Timor Sea
    Timor Sea
    The Timor Sea is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, to the south by Australia and to the west by the Indian Ocean....
    
    .
  • Thaumastocheles japonicus Calman
    William Thomas Calman
    William Thomas Calman was a Scottish zoologist, specialising in the Crustacea.He was born in Dundee, studying at the High School. In the scientific societies in the city, he met D'Arcy Thompson. He later became Thompson's lab boy, which allowed him to attend lectures at University College, Dundee...
    
    , 1913, the "Pacific pincer lobster", is endemic to the Sea of Japan
    Sea of Japan
    The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
    
    .
  • Thaumastocheles zaleucus Thomson, 1873, the "Atlantic pincer lobster" or "Atlantic deep-sea lobster", is endemic to the Caribbean region
    Caribbean Sea
    The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
    
    .

• Thaumastochelopsis
  • Thaumastochelopsis wardi Bruce, 1988, the "Australian pincer lobster", was found in the Coral Sea
    Coral Sea
    The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
    
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