Thenus: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the thenus lives – recorded in 7 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Thenus orientalis
Group	Crabs, lobsters & shrimps
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	7 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Oceania
Class	Crustacean
Order	Decapoda
Family	Scyllaridae

Where does the thenus live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the thenus in 7 countries and territories across Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the thenus endangered?

The thenus’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the thenus?

The thenus (Thenus orientalis) is a crustacean in the order Decapoda and the family Scyllaridae, genus Thenus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the thenus

Thenus orientalis is a species of slipper lobster from the Indian and Pacific oceans.

T. orientalis is known by a number of common names. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization prefers the name flathead lobster, while in Australia, it is more widely known as the Moreton Bay bug (often shortened to just bug) after Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Queensland. In Singapore, both the flathead lobster and true crayfish are called crayfish. They are used in many Singaporean dishes. The species is sometimes confused with the Balmain bug (Ibacus peronii) but it can be distinguished by the placement of the eyes: the eyes of I. peronii are near the midline, while those of T. orientalis are at the margin of the carapace.

T. orientalis has a strongly depressed body and grows to a maximum body length of 25 centimetres (9.8 in), or a carapace length of 8 cm (3.1 in).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Thenus (revision 1374563878), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q3089892 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).