Scyllaridae Family of Slipper Lobsters
Two Slipper Lobsters of t he Scyllaridae Family can be found in this website:
The Slipper Lobsters, which are also known as Shovel-head Lobsters and Fan Lobsters, of the Scyllaridae Family are crustaceans in the Phylum Arthropoda and in the Class Malacostraca. Slipper Lobsters are usually drab shades of brown in color. They have 5 head segments, 8 thoracic segments, and 6 abdominal segments. The head and thorax are usually combined as a cephalothorax. Their head includes a pair of antennae, a pair of antennules, and the mouth. These animals have a two chambered stomach. Slipper Lobsters, like crabs, crayfish, and shrimp, are Decapods meaning that they have five pairs of appendages that function as legs (pereiopods). One of these pairs is modified into enlarged pincers (chalae). 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. Slipper Lobster bodies are strongly flattened dorso-ventrally. Their exoskeleton is thick and strong. Their carapace either lacks a rostrum, or it has a very small one. Slipper Lobsters have two pairs of antennae. One small pair is used for sensing the environment. The other pair are like large, armored plates. Slipper Lobsters, like Coral Lobsters and Spiny Lobsters, are in the infraorder Achelata indicative that they are not True Lobsters, with the most obvious distinction being their lack of claws. Slipper Lobsters reach a maximum of 50 cm (20 inches) in length.
Slipper Lobsters are found worldwide in temperate and tropical seas from the intertidal zone to depths as great as 484 m (1,588 feet). Slipper Lobsters are found on soft substrates, such as sand or mud, or on hard substrates, such as, coral and rock, or within caves. Those in soft substrates have the ability to burrow to avoid predation. Those on hard substrates rely on their strong legs to grip the substrate, and their hard shells to outlast attackers. They are opportunistic omnivores that consume algae, crustaceans, echinoderms, mollusks, polychaetes, sea squirts, and sponges. Some specialize in consuming bivalves utilizing one pair of legs to wedge open the bivalve far enough to insert another pair of legs that saws through the adductor muscle, opening the shell. In turn Slipper Lobsters are primarily preyed upon by fish.
The Scyllaridae Family has four sub-families with eighty-nine global species of which two are found along Mexico’s Pacific Coast