Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus

Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus. Lobster provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, February 2015. Length: 36 cm (14 inches).

Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus. Underwater photographs taken in coastal waters of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2018. Photographs courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

Phylogeny:  The Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus (Bouvier, 1859), is a member of the Palinuridae family of Spiny Lobsters. The genus Panulirus is one of twelve genera in this family, and there are twenty-two species in this genus. They are also known as the Cortez Spiny Lobster and the Blue Spiny Lobster or the Cortez Spiny Lobster and in Mexico as Langosta Azul or Langosta Pinta.

Morphology:  Pinto Spiny Lobsters are cylindrical in outline, though slightly flattened dorsoventrally. They have 5 head segments, 8 thoracic segments, and 6 abdominal segments. The head and thorax are combined as a cephalothorax. The head includes a pair of antennae, a pair of antennules, and mouth parts. Their antennae are longer than the body, and round in cross-section. They use these antennae to sense their environment, to communicate with others of their kind, and to make a rasping sound. The rasping sound is used to communicate and to deter predators. In this species, the antennae plate has two pairs of main thorns, with the distance between the rear pair being less than the length of the spines. There are three strong spines and two series of four small spines in the region adjacent to the eyes on the shell. Pinto Spiny Lobsters have five pairs of appendages that function as legs (pereiopods)and three pairs that function as mouth parts (millipedes). 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. Pinto Spiny Lobsters have a brownish gray or bluish brown body. The carapace has numerous sharp spines tipped in orange. Their legs have orange stripes that run their length. The abdomen is covered with numerous, randomly spaced, small, white spots.  Pinto Spiny Lobsters reach a maximum of 50 cm (20 inches) in length. They are sexually dimorphic with males being larger than females.

Habitat and Distribution: Pinto Spiny Lobsters hide within crevices in rocks and coral reefs during daylight hours and emerge as nighttime predators at dusk. They are found at depths of 2 m (6 feet) to 76 m ( 250 feet). Pinto Spiny Lobsters are generally a tropical Eastern Pacific species. In Mexican waters they range from  from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, to the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, including the Tres Marias and Revillagigedos Islands. They are the most common species of spiny lobster in the Gulf of California, ranging from Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California to the Cape Region, Baja California Sur. In the early 1960’s two individuals were captured as far north as San Diego, California.

Diet: Pinto Spiny Lobsters are predatory carnivores, which consume various types of invertebrate prey including gastropods, crabs, bivalves, worms, and sea urchins. They have a marked preference for mollusks and are known to seasonally migrate to follow food sources. They navigate by smell, taste, and magnetic field. Larval and very young Pinto Spiny Lobsters eat plankton.

Predators: Pinto Spiny Lobsters are preyed upon by  fish, marine mammals and octopuses.

Reproduction:   Pinto Spiny Lobsters are gonochoric ( male or female for life). Reproduction is sexual with 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 a few weeks. The eggs hatch into planktonic larvae. After several developmental stages the larvae molt into benthic juvenile lobsters. Females lay tens of thousands of eggs at a time. There are three or four broods per year.

Ecosystem Interactions: There is very limited documentation of commensalism, parasitism, or symbiotic relationships for Pinto Spiny Lobsters. They are known to host various  bacteria, viruses and endoparasitic  worms.

Human Interactions: Pinto Spiny Lobsters are caught in abundance in lobster traps and sold commercially. Mexican catch levels of the Pinto and Green Spiny Lobsters, which are often confused, are approximately 600 tons per annum. They are caught primarily by artisanal fishermen from December to June. Overfishing of this species by commercial and sport fisheries has caused localized population declines. From a conservation perspective the Pinto Spiny Lobster is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.

Synonyms:  Palanurus digueti and Palanurus inflatus.