Metanephrops challengeri

Metanephrops challengeri is a slender lobster, typically long, but exceptionally up to , Unlike some other species of Metanephrops, the carapace is smooth, as are the abdominal tergae, and the chelipeds are covered in fine granules. ==Life cycle==

Metanephrops challengeri reaches sexual maturity at the age of 3–4 years, and may live up to 15 years in total. and are blue in colour. The larvae hatch at the zoea stage (equivalent to the third zoea of the Northern Hemisphere species Nephrops norvegicus). The zoea larvae are long, and possess all the appendages of the cephalothorax, including the pereiopods, which are used for swimming, but no pleopods (appendages of the abdomen). This larval stage lasts less than four days, before the young moult into the post-larval stage. The post-larva swims using its pleopods. The post-larva later moults into the adult form. Larvae are rarely seen in the wild, confirming that the development to the bottom-dwelling post-larva is rapid. ==Distribution and ecology==

and the limits of the submerged continent Zealandia are also marked. Metanephrops challengeri lives around the coasts of New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands, at depths of . It lives in burrows in a variety of "suitable cohesive" sediments, Lobsters have few parasites, the most important for M. challengeri being the microsporidian Myospora metanephrops. This can cause "destruction of the skeletal and heart muscles of infected lobsters", but its significance for the animals and for the fishing industry remains unclear. When it was described in 2010, M. metanephrops was the first microsporidian to be isolated from a true lobster. ==Fisheries==

Metanephrops challengeri has been harvested commercially since the 1980s. Between the season of 1988/89 and 1990/91, the amount of scampi caught around New Zealand increased from only to around . Catch limits were introduced in 1990/91, The fishery is centred on four areas of continental shelf of the submerged continent Zealandia: the Campbell Plateau around the Auckland Islands, Chatham Rise, along the Wairarapa coast, and in the Bay of Plenty. There is considerable variation in the catch per unit effort between different depths, between different geographical areas and between different years. Metanephrops challengeri was the subject of a 2003 select committee inquiry in the New Zealand parliament, after allegations of corruption arose against officers of the Ministry of Fisheries. Although the allegations were quashed, the inquiry ruled that preferential treatment had been given to the large fishing company Simunovich Fisheries. In response, the government introduced M. challengeri into their Quota Management System and paid compensation to some fishermen who had a justified grievance. Under QMS, an overall limit of was put in place for M. challengeri in 2011. ==Conservation==

s are occasionally caught during the scampi fishery as bycatch. Metanephrops challengeri is currently listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, due in part to the Quota Management System put in place by the New Zealand government. which is considered a vulnerable species by the IUCN. ==Taxonomy==

Metanephrops challengeri was first described by Heinrich Balss in 1914, under the name Nephrops challengeri. Both were females, and they have been deposited at the Natural History Museum in London. Jenkins placed M. challengeri among the "thomsoni group" within the genus Metanephrops, alongside M. thomsoni, M. sibogae, M. boschmai and M. sinensis. ==References==