Species of
Enoplometopus occur from
coral reefs at depths of less than to rocky reefs at depths of . They are brightly coloured, with stripes, rings, or spots. They are typically mainly red, orange, purplish and white. Reef lobsters are distinguished from clawed lobsters (family
Nephropidae) by having full
chelae (
claws) only on the first pair of
pereiopods, the second and third pairs being only subchelate (where the last segment of the
appendage can press against a short projection from the penultimate one). Clawed lobsters have full claws on the first three pereiopods. Males, unlike those of nephropoid lobsters, have an extra lobe on the second
pleopod, which is assumed to have some function in
reproduction. Reef lobsters have a shallow cervical groove while clawed lobsters have a deep cervical groove. Although there is no
fossil record of reef lobsters, there is some evidence that they may be related to the
extinct genus
Eryma which lived from the Permo-
Triassic to the late
Cretaceous. It was later found to be a sister taxon of the Jurassic Lobster
Uncina posidoniae, with the clade Enoplometopoidea including both enoplometopid and enigmatic uncinid lobsters. ==Species==