FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

984 Lobsters
Palinuridae: carapace without rostrum or with rostrum reduced to a small spine, but with a pair of large
frontal horns over the eyes; antennae very long and thick, whip-like or spear-like; legs without true pincers
and first pair generally not enlarged (except in Justitia); posterior half of tail fan soft and flexible.
Scyllaridae: body strongly flattened dorsoventrally; rostrum absent or rudimentary; eyes enclosed by
distinct orbits; antennae plate-like; legs without true pincers and none of them enlarged; posterior half of
tail fan soft and flexible.
no pincers
Key to the genera of Nephropidae occurring in the area
1a. Eyes large and black; antennal scale present; body provided with some spines but never
uniformly spinulose (Fig. 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Metanephrops
1b. Eyes minute, cornea lacking pigmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . → 2
2a. Antennal scale present; body more or less uniformly spinulose and not covered with soft
pubescence (Fig. 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Acanthacaris
(a single species, A. tenuimana, in the area)
2b. Antennal scale absent; body not uniformly spinulose but covered with thick pubescence
(Fig. 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nephropsis
Fig. 1 Metanephrops
1
Palinuridae
antennal
scale
2
5
3
4
frontal
horns
posterior half
of tail fan soft
no
pincers
antennal
scale
Scyllaridae
antenna
plate-like
5
1
4
2
3
body flat
posterior half
of tail fan soft
Fig. 2 Acanthacaris Fig. 3 Nephropsis