Polychelidan lobsters are decapod crustaceans characterized by their four to five pairs of claws. The first description of a polychelidan lobster dates back to 1817, and since then, numerous species have been described with varying level of details. This situation sometimes led to the description of synonymous species, and more generally, led to a lack of overview on the group systematic and evolutionary history. Herein, we review Proeryon¸ one of the most diversified and stratigraphically widespread polychelidan. We argue that Proeryon is closely allied to Tethyseryon and Gabaleryon and propose to assign them to Proeryoninae nov. subfam., which are mainly characterized by their hemicircular ocular incision, postorbital and branchial carinae not joined together, and axial carina on pleonites cut by transverse grooves. Proeryon is in turn characterized by its marked cervical and hepatic incisions, simple posterolateral spines and arched uropodal exopod diaeresis. Thus defined, we assign the following species to Proeryon: P. charbonnieri, P. giganteus, P. hauffi, P. laticaudatus, P. richardsoni, P. stoddarti and two unnamed species from the Hauterivian of Germany and Switzerland, respectively. In addition, we refer to Proeryon, with some reservations, two new species,?Proeryon quiltyi from the Callovian of Antarctica and?Proeryon erinaceus from the Oxfordian of France. Proeryon has highly discontinuous but large stratigraphic (Pliensbachian – Hauterivian: about 60 MA) and palaeogeographic (from United Kingdom to Siberia, and to Antarctica) distribution. Most of these species occurs in relatively deep neritic or deeper palaeoenvironments. It is possible that this deep-sea dwelling is one of the reasons why Proeryon survived so long. Also, we note the presence of abundant oysters living as epibionts on some specimens of Proeryon hartmanni. Their disposition and number suggest that P. hartmanni was an epibenthic animal.

多螯龙虾是十足类甲壳动物，其特征是它们的四到五对爪。多螯龙虾的首次描述可以追溯到1817年，从那时起，许多物种的详细程度有所不同。这种情况有时导致对同义物种的描述，更笼统地说，导致对系统的系统历史和进化历史缺乏概述。本文中，我们回顾了Proeryon¸，Proeryon and是最多样化和地层分布最广泛的多螯chel之一。我们认为Proeryon与Tethyseryon和Gabaleryon密切相关，并建议将它们分配给Proeryoninae nov。子家族。，其主要特征是半眼眼切口，眶后和分支突不连接在一起，以及横槽切开的石上的轴向突突。继而，Proeryon的特征是其明显的宫颈和肝切口，简单的后外侧棘和弓形的足足外透性腹泻。如此定义，我们分配以下物种Proeryon：P. charbonnieri，P.巨，P. hauffi，P. laticaudatus，P. richardsoni，P. stoddarti从德国和瑞士欧特里夫分别和两个未定名种。另外，参照Proeryon，有些保留，有两个新物种？来自南极Callovian的Proeryon quiltyi和？来自法国牛津的Proeryon erinaceus。Proeryon的地层高度不连续，但地层分布较大（普林斯巴赫（Pliensbachian）至上特韦特（Hauterivian）：约60 MA），古地理分布（从英国到西伯利亚，再到南极洲）。这些物种大多数发生在相对较深的晚古性或更深的古环境中。这种深海的住所可能是Proeryon存活这么久的原因之一。此外，我们注意到在Proeryon hartmanni的一些标本上有大量的牡蛎生活为表生动物。它们的性状和数量表明P. hartmanni 是表皮动物。