A new early Late Cretaceous nephropid lobster (Crustacea, Decapoda) from Kazakhstan, entombed within an ammonite body chamber

Lodged within the body chamber of the schloenbachiid ammonite Schloenbachia varians from lower Cenomanian strata in the Besakty section (Mangyshlak Mountains, western Kazakhstan) are the heavily ornamented carapace with partial chelipeds and abdomen of a nephropid lobster which is here described as a new species, Hoploparia tectumque. This constitutes the first example of nephropid lobster inquilinism; it adds to the growing list of empty cephalopod conchs that played an important role in post-Palaeozoic decapod crustacean habitat and evolution.