Everything about Spiny Lobster totally explained
Spiny lobsters, also known as
langouste or
rock lobsters are a family (
Palinuridae) of about 45
species of
achelate crustaceans, in the
Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also called
crayfish,
sea crayfish or
crawfish. Like true
lobsters, spiny lobsters are edible and are an economically significant food source; they're the biggest food export of the
Bahamas .
The largest spiny lobster on record was over 1
m (3
ft) long and weighed over 11.8
kg (26
lb).
Relatives
The
furry lobsters (
for example Palinurellus) are sometimes separated into a family of their own, the Synaxidae, but are usually considered members of the Palinuridae. The
slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) are their next closest relatives, and these two or three families make up the
Achelata. Genera of spiny lobsters include
Palinurus and a number of anagrams thereof:
Panulirus,
Linuparus,
etc. (
Palinurus was also a helmsman in
Virgil's
Æneid.)
Although they superficially resemble
true lobsters in terms of overall shape and having a hard
carapace and
exoskeleton, the two groups are not closely related. Spiny lobsters can be easily distinguished from true lobsters by their very long, thick, spiny
antennae, and by the lack of
claws (
chelae) on the first four pairs of walking legs, although the females of most species have a small claw on the fifth pair. True lobsters have much smaller antennae and claws on the first three pairs of
legs, with the first being particularly enlarged.
Fossil record
The
fossil record of spiny lobsters has been extended by the discovery in 1995 of a 110 million year-old fossil near
El Espinal in
Chiapas,
Mexico. Workers from the
National University of Mexico have named the fossil
Palinurus palaecosi, and report that it's closest to members of the genus
Palinurus currently living off the coasts of Africa .
Ecology
Spiny lobsters are found in almost all warm seas, including the
Caribbean and the
Mediterranean Sea, but are particularly common in
Australasia, where they're referred to commonly as
crayfish or sea crayfish (
Jasus novaehollandiae and
Jasus edwardsii), and
South Africa (
Jasus lalandii). A new species,
Palinurus barbarae was described in 2006.
Spiny lobsters tend to live in crevices of rocks and
coral reefs, only occasionally venturing out at night to seek
snails,
clams,
crabs,
sea urchins or
carrion to eat. Sometimes, they migrate
en masse, in long files of lobsters across the sea floor. Potential
predators may be deterred from eating spiny lobsters by a loud screech made by the antennae of the spiny lobsters rubbing against a smooth part of the
exoskeleton . Spiny lobsters usually exhibit social habit by being together. However recent studies indicate that healthy lobsters move away from infected ones leaving the diseased lobsters to fend for themselves .
Sound
Spiny lobsters produce
rasping sounds to repel
predators. This is done by rubbing the "plectrum" at the base of the spiny lobster's antennae against a "file". The noise is produced by sticking and slipping, in the same way that a
violin string is bowed, and is the only example of this kind of sound production in the animal kingdom . Significantly, the system doesn't rely on the hardness of the exoskeleton, as many other
arthropod sounds do, meaning that the spiny lobsters can continue to produce the deterrent noises even in the period following a
moult when they're most vulnerable ), and its form can distinguish different species .
Gallery
Living animals
Image:Palinurus vulgaris(01).jpg|Panulirus vulgaris
Image:California_spiny_lobster.JPG|Panulirus interruptus
Image:Panulirus argus.jpg|Panulirus argus
Image:JasusLalandii.JPG|Jasus lalandii
Cooked
Image:Lobster platter.JPG|Lobster platter, Chinese style.
Image:JanusLalandiiPlatter.JPG|West Coast rock lobster, stewed in saltwater.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Spiny Lobster'.
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