T
he beautiully marked Caribbeanspiny lobster has long been a avoriteFlorida seaood and is one o ourmost important sheries. As a result,marine conservation laws have beenimplemented to protect this valuablespecies rom being overexploited, andmanagement eorts are continuallybeing examined to ensure thesustainability o this shery.
Description
The Caribbean spiny lobster (
Panulirus argus
) is acrustacean closely related to crabs, shrimp, andcraysh. Common names or this lobster includecraysh, crawsh, langosta, and Florida lobster. Thereare about 12 species o lobster in Florida; Caribbeanspiny lobsters are by ar the largest and most abundant.They vary rom whitish to a dark red-orange. The twolarge, cream-colored spots on top o the secondsegment o the tail section are the diagnostic eaturesor identiying this species. There are also two smallercream-colored spots adjacent to the tail an. Spinylobsters lack the large, distinctive, crushing claws otheir northern cousins, the American lobster.The name “spiny” comes rom the strong, orward-curving spines projecting rom the hard shell that coversthe body and antennae o the lobster. The spines act asprotection rom predators and canpresent a hazard to anyone handling theanimal without wearing gloves. Thereare two large prominent spines,sometimes called horns, above theeyes.A spiny lobster’s body has twomain parts: the cephalothorax (headsection) and the abdomen (tail section).The cephalothorax comprises the head,a cape-like carapace or shell, themouthparts, antennae, antennules(smaller antennae-like structures), and ten walkinglegs. Spiny lobsters wave their long, spiny antennaelike whips or ghting and deense. They use the shorterantennules to sense movement and detect chemicalsin the water. The lobster’s mouth, located on theunderside o and toward the ront o the cephalothorax,is surrounded by large, heavy structures calledmandibles, or jaws, and by maxillipeds, or accessoryjaws. Both sets o jaws are used or biting and grindingood and directing it into the mouth.The abdomen, or tail section, is narrower than thecephalothorax. The shell covering the tail section isdivided into six ring-like segments, and each segmentends in a spine on each side. Under the tail are ourpairs o small lea-like structures called pleopods (orswimmerets). The tail ends in a fat, fexible an with abroad center section—the telson—and has two lobes
SPINY LOBSTER
Mysterious Crustaceanof the Caribbean
Common Name
Craysh, Crawsh, Langosta, and Florida Lobster
Scientific Name
Panulirus argus
Size
Maximum size approximately 9–10 inches carapace length (15–20 pounds)
Range
In the tropical and subtropical waters o the South Atlantic, Gul o Mexico, and theCaribbean Sea
Habitat
Hardbottom, seagrass, and coral rees o South Florida and Caribbean
Regular Season
August 6 to March 31; sport season or recreational harvest during the lastWednesday and successive Thursday o July o each year.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation CommissionFish and Wildlife Research Institute
2
on each side o the telson called uropods. This angenerates the thrust needed or the animal to “tailfip”—a rapid backward escape mechanism that presentsan armored, thorny ront to any potential enemy.To determine the sex o a spiny lobster, examinethe underside o the cephalothorax and tail section. Atthe base o the th pair o the male’s walking legs areopenings called sperm ducts, which become greatlyenlarged during the breeding season. Also, the secondwalking legs o mature males are much longer than theother walking legs. The th pair o a emale’s walkinglegs have hook-like structures at the tips, but her secondlegs are not longer than the others. On a male, thepleopods beneath the tail section are single and paddle-like. Each pleopod on a emale has two lobes; one lobeis paddle-like, and the other lobe resembles smallpincers.
Life History
The peak mating and spawning season o the Caribbeanspiny lobster is between March and July. When lobstersmate, the male deposits a sperm packet, orspermatophore, on the underside o the emale betweenher ourth and th walking legs. The sperm packet isa light, pinkish-gray when deposited and darkens toblack as the covering develops; because o the darkcolor, it is commonly called a “tarspot.” When readyto ertilize her eggs, the emale scratches thespermatophore with the little hook on her th walkingleg to release sperm when she discharges eggs romher oviducts. The ertilized eggs attach to long hairscalled “setae” on the pincer-like lobes o her pleopods.During the three-week incubation period, the orangeegg mass becomes dark brown as the developingyoung use up the yolks. A emale lobster carrying eggsis said to be “berried.”A emale lobster with a three-inch carapace canrelease about 250,000 eggs per spawn, and a emalewith a our-inch carapace can produce over a millioneggs. Large lobsters typically spawn two or threetimes during the annual mating season; smalleranimals may spawn only once a year.A spiny lobster begins lie looking nothing at alllike an adult. A newly hatched lobster enters the worldas a tiny, fat, spider-like larva called a phyllosome andis transparent except or pigment in the eyes. Thenewly hatched larval lobster drits in the ocean, eeding
antennaswimmerets(pleopods)walkinglegs(pereopods)carapace
a
b
d
o
m
e
n
Lobster art by James SeagleTail fan art by Diane Rome Peebles
antennuleseyestalktelsonuropods
TAIL FAN
on other tiny driting animals (plankton). Carried byocean currents, the driting phyllosome passes through11 developmental stages beore nally changing into atransparent, swimming, lobster-like orm called thepuerulus. Scientists have long thought this larval stagelasts as long as 9 months, but in 2005
P. argus
larvaewere reared by one lobster scientist rom a phyllosometo a puerulus in 142 days.The puerulus does not eed at all; its mission is toswim rom the open ocean to nearshore waters andnd a place to settle, preerably in clumps o red algaein a hardbottom area. Occasionally, the puerulus willsettle in seagrass. By the time the puerulus has ounda suitable habitat, it has begun to develop brown andwhite markings as camoufage. Within a week osettling, the puerulus molts and develops into a juvenilespiny lobster.A juvenile lobster eeds at night on crustaceansand mollusks and hides during daylight hours, anocturnal pattern that continues throughout adulthood.As the lobster grows, it molts. When a lobster molts,a line along each side o the carapace splits and thesot, fexible animal backs out through the opening.The sot, vulnerable animal quickly absorbs water andexpands beore the new, and larger, exoskeletonhardens. The process o molting and acquiring a newexoskeleton takes about two days.About three months ater settling, with a carapacelength o about one inch (2.5 cm), a juvenile leaves thealgal clumps or a hardbottom habitat o sponges,solution holes (mini-sinkholes), and small coral heads.About two years ater the puerulus settles, the lobsterhas reached a carapace length o about three inches.Sexual maturity is also reached around this time.As spiny lobsters mature, they migrate seaward tooshore rees. In remote areas or when protected romshing, spiny lobsters can grow to over 15 pounds andmay live or 20 years.
Range and Habitat
Caribbean spiny lobsters are widely distributedthroughout the tropical and subtropical waters o theAtlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gul o Mexico,inhabiting the seas around Bermuda, the West Indies,and southern Florida. They have been reported as arnorth as Beauort, North Carolina, and as ar south asRio de Janeiro, Brazil.Adult spiny lobsters live in the caverns and creviceso coral rees and hardbottom areas, hiding during theday and emerging at night to hunt and eat. Both juvenilesand adults are opportunistic eeders and will eat a widevariety o prey. Their preerred diet is small crustaceansand mollusks.
Lobster art by James Seagle
Many of the adult lobsters caught in Floridaare hatched from eggs that may have come from as far away as South America.
Panulirus argus
puerulus
3
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Sea Stats - Spiny Lobster
The beautifully marked Caribbean spiny lobster has long been a favorite Florida seafood and is one of our most important fisheries. As a result, marine conservation laws have been implemented to protect this valuable species from…
(More)
10.3K
Reads
0
Readcasts
1
Embed Views
More From This User
Notes
Load more
