Cape lobster
Drawing by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst, 1792
The Kaphummer ( Homarinus capensis ), also written Cape lobster, is a species of decapods from the monotypic genus Homarinus. By 1995, this type of the genus lobster was ( Homarus ), but was inter alia issued due to their much smaller body size to a new genus. The name " Homarinus " means " lobster -like", the specific epithet refers to the origin of the species, the waters around the Cape of Good Hope.
Description
The Kaphummer reach body lengths of 8 to 10 cm, the carapace is 4 to 5 cm long. Its color is coral-red to brownish yellow.
The conformation similar to that of lobster ( Homarus ). Unlike those, the shearing of the first walking legs are clearly hairy. The large claws on the first pair of legs have an elongated appearance because of the elongated carpus. While the Rostrum is straightens towards the tip with American and European lobster, it is flattened at the Kaphummer and provided with a smaller lateral spines. The Gonoporen are relatively large, which is why suspected that the eggs are not only much larger than other lobsters, but also less numerous.
Despite their morphological similarities, the species Homarus and Homarinus are not sister groups. Phylogenetic studies indicate rather suggests that a convergence exists.
Distribution and threat
The natural range of the Kaphummers stretches along the South African coast from Dassen Iceland near Cape Town in the west to Haga Haga in the Eastern Cape in the east. He lives in rather shallow coastal waters on stony ground. The Kaphummer is not exploited and is an extremely rare species, which is probably threatened with extinction.
Taxonomy
The first description of Kaphummers was made by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1792 as Cancer (Astacus ) capensis. Synonyms are Astacus fulvus Fabricius, 1793 fulvus Homarus Weber, 1795, Astacus capensis Latreille, 1802 and Cancer (Astacus ) fulvus Turton, 1806.