California Spiny Lobster
Panulirus interruptus
Spotted Spiny Lobster
Panulirus guttatus
About
The spotted spiny lobster is a small, boldly patterned lobster that hides in reef crevices by day and comes out to forage once night falls.
- Length
- 15 cm · max 20 cm
- Depth
- up to 23 m
How to tell it apart
It shares reefs with the larger Caribbean spiny lobster, which lacks such bold markings. The round white spots covering its dark body are the mark that sets it apart.
Appearance
Its body is purplish black, covered in bold round white spots. Its eyes sit on flexible stalks, and it has long, thick, spiny antennae and five pairs of walking legs without large claws. The main leg segments are dark with white spots, while the segments nearest the body carry dark stripes on a pale background. It grows up to 20 cm long, though 15 cm is more typical.
Habitat
It lives on shallow rocky and coral reefs in the tropical western Atlantic and Caribbean, from Bermuda and the Bahamas to Florida, the West Indies, and south to Suriname. By day it hides in crevices and under coral heads, usually no deeper than 23 m, moving out onto the reef floor at night to feed.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
