A new deepwater lobster, Metanephrops serendipitus sp. nov. (Crustacea, Decapoda, Nephropidae), from lower Miocene of Meljski hrib (Maribor, Slovenia)

Abstract

A new species of nephropid lobster, Metanephrops serendipitus sp. nov., is described from the lower Miocene serendipitus sp. nov. represents the first fossil representative of the genus from the northern hemisphere and thus extends its known palaeobiogeothe palaeoecology of the new species is discussed. Similar to extant species of Metanephrops, the fossil nephropid inhabited a fine-grained deep-sea environment, associated with frequent brittle stars.