Weber, 1795
Left and right first chelipeds usually unequal, one a crushing claw, the other a cutting claw. Palm of first chelipeds smooth, without ridges. Subdorsal carinae of carapace without spinules. Antennal spines without strong posterior carina. Abdominal somites smooth, without grooves; no carinae separating the tergites from the pleura. First abdominal sternite of the male without a median spine.
Type Species: selected by Fowler, 1912, Annual Report New Jersey State Museum, 1911: 333: Astacus marinus Fabricius, 1775 ( = Cancer gammarus Linnaeus, 1758).
The name Homarus has been independently chosen for this genus by three different authors. Notwithstanding the fact that these three homonyms all have different nominal species as their types, they still are objectively synonymous, as these three different nominal species are objectively synonymous themselves.
The genus Homarus has three species, two of which belong to the economically most important lobsters in the world. The importance of the genus is well expressed by Herrick (1895: 6), who in his monograph "The American Lobster" stated that the lobster "may be rightfully called the King of the Crustacea".