Furry lobster

This article is about the family Synaxidae. For the deep-sea decapod discovered in 2005, see Kiwaidae.
Furry lobsters
Palinurellus gundlachi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Achelata
Family: Palinuridae
(or Synaxidae)
Genera and species
  • Palinurellus
    • Palinurellus gundlachi
    • Palinurellus wieneckii
  • Palibythus
    • Palibythus magnificus

Furry lobsters (sometimes called coral lobsters) are small decapod crustaceans, closely related to the slipper lobsters and spiny lobsters.[1] The antennae are not as enlarged as in spiny and slipper lobsters, and the body is covered in short hairs, hence the name furry lobster. Although previously considered a family in their own right (Synaxidae Spence Bate, 1881), the furry lobsters were subsumed into the family Palinuridae in 1990,[2] and molecular phylogenies support the inclusion of the furry lobsters in the family Palinuridae.[1] There are two genera, with three species between them:[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ferran Palero, Keith A. Crandall, Pere Abelló, Enrique Macpherson & Marta Pascual (2009). "Phylogenetic relationships between spiny, slipper and coral lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Achelata)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 50 (1): 152–162. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.10.003. PMID 18957325.
  2. Joel W. Martin & George E. Davis (2001). An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. pp. 1–132.
  3. "Synaxidae Bate, 1881". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved February 15, 2011.