Norway lobster

Taxobox

---

image_width = 250px
name = Norway lobster
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Crustacea
classis = Malacostraca
ordo = Decapoda
subordo = Pleocyemata
infraordo = Astacidea
familia = Nephropidae
genus = "Nephrops" [Several other species formerly included in the genus "Nephrops" are now included in the genus "Metanephrops".]
genus_authority = Leach, 1814
species = "N. norvegicus"
binomial = "Nephrops norvegicus"
binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Norway lobster, "Nephrops norvegicus", (also called Dublin Bay prawn, langoustine or scampo), is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to 24 cm long (9-10 in). [cite web |url=http://www.soortenbank.nl/soorten.php?soortengroep=duikgids&record=Nephrops+norvegicus |title=Noorse kreeft — "Nephrops norvegicus" |publisher=SoortenBank.nl |accessmonthday=August 24 |accessyear=2006] It is found in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and North Sea as far north as Iceland and northern Norway, and south to Portugal. It is not common in the Mediterranean Sea except in the Adriatic Sea, [Alan Davidson, "Mediterranean Seafood"] notably the north Adriatic. [cite web |url=http://www.faoadriamed.org/html/Species/NephropsNorvegicus.html |title="Nephrops norvegicus" (Linnaeus, 1758) |work=AdriaMed |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization]

Norway lobsters are solitary predators, feeding on other animals such as worms and fish. [cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5908E/x5908e01.htm|title=Processing Norway lobsters |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |accessmonthday=March 18 |accessyear=2007 |author=J. C. Early]

In December 1995, the commensal "Symbion pandora" was discovered attached to the mouthparts of a Norway lobster, and was found to be the first member of a new phylum, the Cycliophora. [cite journal | quotes=no |author=Funch, P. & R. M. Kristensen |year=1995 |title=Cycliophora is a new phylum with affinities to Entoprocta and Ectoprocta |journal=Nature |volume=378 |pages=711–714 |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v378/n6558/abs/378711a0.html |doi=10.1038/378711a0 |format=abstract]

As food

The tail is muscular and is frequently eaten by humans, often under the name "scampi." Norway lobster is eaten on special occasions in Spain and Portugal, where it is less expensive than the European lobster. [cite web |title=Spain Annual Seafood Report |publisher=American Embassy, Madrid |date=1995-09-15 |author-Diego Pazos |url=http://www.aquanic.org/publicat/govagen/fas/sp5039.htm]

The Norway lobster is an important species for fisheries, being caught mostly by trawling. Around 60,000 tonnes are caught annually, half of it in the United Kingdom's waters. [cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/figis/servlet/species?fid=2647 |title="Nephrops norvegicus" |publisher=FAO: Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS) |date=2004-02-26]

Discards from "Nephrops norvegicus" fishery may account for up to 37% of the energy requirements of certain marine scavengers, such as the hagfish "Myxine glutinosa". [cite journal | quotes=no |title=Importance of discards from the English "Nephrops norvegicus" fishery in the North Sea to marine scavengers |journal=Marine Ecology — Progress Series |volume=313 |pages=215–226 |year=2006 |url=http://www.cefas.co.uk/publications/publication-abstract.aspx?abstract=4321 |format=abstract |author=Catchpole, T. L., C. L. J. Frid & T. S. Gray |doi=10.3354/meps313215] Boats involved in "Nephrops" fishery also catch a number of fish species such as plaice and sole, and it is thought that without that revenue, "Nephrops" fishery would be economically unviable. [cite journal | quotes=no |title=A study of the options for utilization of bycatch and discards from marine capture fisheries: 9.1.2 "Nephrops" |author=Ivoe Clucas |year=1997 |journal=FAO Fisheries Circular |volume=No. 928 |pages=FIIU/C928 |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/W6602E/w6602E09.htm]

References