Nephrops is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant species, Nephrops norvegicus (the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn), and several fossil species. It was erected by William Elford Leach in 1814, to accommodate N. norvegicus alone, which had previously been placed in genera such as Cancer, Astacus or Homarus.^[1]

Although the species in the genus Metanephrops were previously included in Nephrops, molecular phylogenetics suggests that the two genera are not sister taxa, Nephrops being more closely related to Homarus than either is to Metanephrops.^[2]

Most of the fossil species assigned to the genus Nephrops are known only from partial remains, and their affinities are not certain.^[3] They include:

• Nephrops reedi Carter, 1898 – Pliocene, England
• Nephrops costatus Rathbun, 1918 – Pleistocene, Panama
• Nephrops maoensis Rathbun, 1920 – Oligocene or Miocene, Dominican Republic
• Nephrops aequus Rathbun, 1920 – Oligocene or Miocene, Dominican Republic
• Nephrops shastensis Rathbun, 1929 – Cretaceous, California (possibly belongs in Hoploparia)
• Nephrops americanus Rathbun, 1935 – Cretaceous, Texas (not similar to Nephrops or Metanephrops)

References

	Crustaceans portal
	Arthropods portal

v t e Genera of Nephropidae (clawed lobsters) Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Order Decapoda Infraorder Astacidea Family Nephropidae Acanthacaris (2 extant spp.) Dinochelus (1 extant sp.) Eunephrops Homarinus (1 extant sp.) Homarus (2 extant spp.) Hoploparia † Jagtia † Metanephrops (18 extant spp.) Nephropides (1 extant sp.) Nephrops (1 extant sp.) Nephropsis (15 extant spp.) Oncopareia † Palaeonephrops † Paraclythia † Pseudohomarus † Thaumastocheles (3 extant spp.) Thaumastochelopsis (2 extant spp.) Thymopides (2 extant spp.) Thymops (1 extant sp.) Thymopsis (1 extant sp.)