De Haan, 1849
Diagnosis
Carapace extremely laterally compressed and anteriorly elongate; rostrum short and acute. Mandibles widely separated from antennae and eyes. Antennules without a ventral flagellum in both sexes. Mandibles and maxillae without a palp. Maxillar exopod in form of small plate. First maxillipede without epipod and exopod; second maxillipede without epipod. Pereiopods without chelae, or an imperfect chela only on pereiopod 3 (the chela is without a fixed finger). Pereiopod 4 and 5 absent. Branchiae absent. Abdominal somite 6 in male with two ventral processes. Telson in male with strong ventral protuberance. Genital aperture single in both sexes. Petasma sessile, attached proximally to the peduncle of the first pleopod.
Distribution
Luciferidae are not present in the North Sea; the species nearest to our region is Lucifer typus H. Milne Edwards, 1837, found off Portugal and in the Bay of Biscay (Zariquiey Alvarez, 1968 regarding the adults; Dos Santos and Lindley, 2001 with respect to the larvae). L. typus is known from the warmer waters of the N and S Atlantic Oceans as well as the Indian Ocean [Lucifer typus ].
[Diagnosis of the Family Luciferidae after Pérez Farfante and Kensley, 1997]