Palinuridae Family of Spiny Lobsters

Three Spiny Lobsters of the Palinuridae Family can be found in this website:

Phylogeny: Spiny Lobsters  of the Palinuridae Family are in the phylum Arthropoda and the subphylum Crustacea. They are in the superclass Multicrustacea, the Class Malacostraca, the subclass Eumalacostraca, the superorder Eucarida, the order Decapoda, the suborder Pleocyemata, and the infraorder Achelata. The Palinuridae Family is one of two families in this infraorder. The Palinuridae Family contains twelve genera and fifty-seven species. The name Palinuridae comes from Greek roots meaning “backwards tail”, and refers to these lobsters’ ability to swim backwards. These lobsters are also commonly known as Rock Lobsters and Sea Crayfish.

Morphology: Spiny Lobsters have 5 head segments, 8 thoracic segments, and 6 abdominal segments. The head and thorax are combined as a cephalothorax. Their head includes a pair of antennae, a pair of antennules, and the mouth.  They have a cylindrical profile, though slightly flattened dorsally. The base of their antennae and their carapace are sculpted with sharp spines. The rostrum is either very small, or absent. They have two sharp “horns” over their eyes. Their antennae are longer than the body, and round in cross-section. They use these antennae to sense their environment and to communicate as they have the ability to make a rasping sound. They have five pairs of appendages that function as legs (pereiopods).  They also have three pairs of appendages that function as mouth parts (maxillipeds).  They have six pairs of biramous (dividing to form two branches) appendages along their abdomen. The first five pairs function as swimmerets (pleopods). The last pair is flattened to form a tail fan. Spiny Lobsters, like Coral Lobsters and Slipper Lobsters, are in the infraorder Achelata indicative that they are not True Lobsters, with the most obvious distinction being their lack of claws. Spiny Lobsters reach a maximum of 70 cm (2 feet 4 inches) in length.

Habitat and Distribution: Spiny Lobsters take shelter during the day in caves, crevices and overhangs and emerge at night for feeding on top of the reef or on soft substrates, navigating by magnetic field, smell, and taste. They may be found as solitary individuals or in groups of several individuals. They live from the intertidal zone to depths as great as 300 m (984 feet). Spiny Lobsters are found worldwide in temperate to tropical seas.  At least six species from this family are found in Mexican waters.

Reproduction: Spiny Lobsters are gonochoric (male or female for life). Reproduction is sexual with indirect external fertilization. Mating is accomplished by the transfer of a sperm packet from the male to the abdomen of the female. The female scratches open the sperm packet as she releases her eggs. The female carries the fertilized eggs on her abdomen until they hatch after one to three months. The female may carry 230,000 to over 2 million eggs. The eggs hatch into planktonic larvae. After several developmental stages the larvae molt into benthic juvenile lobsters.

Ecosystem Roles:  Spiny Lobsters are omnivores that consume algae, annelids, bivalves, carrion, crabs, gastropods, sea cucumbers, sea grasses, sea hares, and sea urchins. In turn they are preyed upon by fish, octopus and marine mammals.