High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Metanephrops challengeri (the New Zealand lobster or New Zealand scampi) is a species of lobster from New Zealand. It was first collected by the Challenger expedition of 1872–1876, but only described as separate from related species by Heinrich Balss in 1914. Although originally classified in the genus Nephrops, it was moved in 1972 to a new genus, Metanephrops, along with most other species then classified in Nephrops. It is an important fishery species, and under the limitations of New Zealand`s Quota Management System, trawlers catch around 1000 t per year.