Description of a Spiny Lobster

The spiny lobster is a crustacean also known as the Caribbean spiny lobster, Florida spiny lobster or by its scientific name as panulirus argus. Spiny lobsters are found in places ranging from the Caribbean Sea to shelf waters along the United States, and are commonly commercially harvested for use in restaurants. It is a popular seafood and there are regulations in place to manage the harvest of spiny lobsters.

  1. Description

    • Unlike some lobsters, the spiny lobster does not have large pinching claws. Instead, it has rows of spines that cover its outer shell, which help protect it against predators. The spiny lobster also has a pair of antennae that allow it to better sense its surroundings. Spiny lobsters are striped in brown and gray, with yellow spots along their tails. The spiny lobster can grow to approximately 3 feet in length. Once it has finished its molting cycle where it sheds its old shell for a new one, which takes about five to seven years, it can weigh up to 1 lb.

    Habitat

    • The Caribbean spiny lobster resides mainly in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In these locations, the nocturnal lobster dwells inside coral reefs during the day, hiding inside the crevices and ledges, and comes out to feed at night. Spiny lobsters may live just below the water surface, or up to 1,650 feet under. When in the larval stage, spiny lobsters reside in the water column or among dense vegetation. As they grow, they move to larger crevices provided by sponges and soft corals, until they are approximately 2 to 3 inches long, when they move to coral reefs.

    Ecosystem

    • Spiny lobsters mainly eat gastropods (e.g. snails and slugs), chitons (e.g. mollusks), bivalves (e.g. scallops and clams), and carrion found along the ocean floor. These lobsters might also eat other sea creatures such as sea urchins, worms or other crustaceans. When spiny lobsters are in their larval stage, they are likely to eat soft-bodied sea vegetation such as plankton. The predators of spiny lobsters are numerous, consisting of fish like groupers and snappers, sharks, skates, turtles, moray eels and octopus.

    Behavior

    • The lifespan of a spiny lobster may be up to 15 years. Females reach reproductive maturity when their carapace, or upper section of their shell, reaches about 3 inches. They have approximately 500,000 to 1.7 million eggs each time they spawn. The male lobster fertilizes the eggs by depositing sperm packets under the female's body, which she then scratches to release the sperm. Then, her fertilized eggs attach to the underside of her tail, and will hatch in about four weeks. This mating process takes place from April to September in the United States and throughout the entire year in the Caribbean. Spiny lobsters will migrate in the Caribbean to avoid cold waters, moving in single-file lines.

    Conservation Status

    • The spiny lobster is commercially harvested as a popular seafood. Fishing season for these lobsters lasts from Aug. 6 to March 31, and more than 40 percent of the year's catch happens in August. Regulations vary depending on the fishing zone. In the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils are responsible for managing spiny lobster fisheries. Regulations include commercial trap reduction programs, a closed season, a special recreational season and regulations, and minimum length requirements. In the territorial seas of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Caribbean Fishery Management Council is responsible for managing fisheries. Their regulations include size limits and gear restrictions, as well as a ban on retaining female lobsters who are bearing eggs.