Cape lobster

The Cape lobster is endemic to South Africa. It occurs from Dassen Island, Western Cape in the west to Haga Haga, Eastern Cape in the east, a range of . Most of the known specimens were regurgitated by fish caught on reefs at depths of . This suggests that the Cape lobster inhabits rocky substrates, and may explain its apparent rarity, since such areas are not amenable to dredging or trawling, and the species may be too small to be retained by lobster traps. ==Description==

Homarinus capensis is considerably smaller than the large northern lobsters of the Atlantic Ocean, Homarus gammarus (the European lobster) and Homarus americanus (the American lobster), at total length, or carapace length. Nonetheless, the Cape lobster differs from Homarus in a number of characters. The rostrum of the Cape lobster is flattened, while that of Homarus is rounded in section, and curves upwards at the tip. ==Taxonomy and evolution==

Cape lobsters are elusive and rare, with only fourteen specimens having been collected between 1792 (the date of its first description) and 1992. In 1992, a Cape lobster was discovered at Dassen Island, and the publicity the find generated resulted in more than 20 additional specimens being reported. The Cape lobster was first described by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1792 as Cancer (Astacus) capensis. It was independently described in 1793 by Johan Christian Fabricius as Astacus flavus, possibly based on the same type specimen. While analyses of morphology suggest a close relationship between Homarinus and Homarus, molecular analyses using mitochondrial DNA reveal that they are not sister taxa. Both genera lack ornamentation such as spines and carinae, but are thought to have reached that state independently, through convergent evolution. The closest living relative of Homarus is Nephrops norvegicus, while the closest relatives of Homarinus are Thymops and Thymopides. ==Notes==