Caribbean spiny lobster
Panulirus argus, the Caribbean spiny lobster, is a species of spiny lobster that lives on reefs and in mangrove swamps in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Other common names for the species in the United States include spiny lobster, Bermuda spiny lobster, common spiny lobster, crawfish, Florida spiny lobster, West Indian langouste and West Indian spiny lobster.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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DetritivoreDetritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming detri...
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OmnivoreAn omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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ScavengerScavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While sc...
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MolluscivoreA molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specializes in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods, and cephalopods. Known mo...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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Individuals can be found at depths of up to 100 m (330 ft) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Beaufort, North Carolina, including the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas and Bermuda, with occasional reports from West Africa. Although they range throughout the entire Gulf of Mexico, in the northern portions of the Gulf they generally are only found at depths of 33 m (108 ft) and greater due to the seasonal variation in the water temperature. Around the southern portion of the Florida peninsula and throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean, they are found in shallower water. They generally prefer habitat with some sort of cover and can be found around coral reefs, artificial reefs, sponges, bridge pilings, wooden bridge bumpers, piers, and under the prop roots of mangroves.
Like most decapods, P. argus hatches from eggs carried externally by the female for around four weeks. They begin life as a free-swimming, microscopic phyllosoma larvae. After about one year, the larvae settle in algae (Laurencia sp., Neogoniolithon sp.), in Thalassia testudinum seagrass beds or among mangrove roots. After undergoing several molts, they migrate to the coral reefs and live in holes or crevices. As they grow, they molt or shed their exoskeleton to make room for their larger bodies. As in other decapods, after molting, the new exoskeleton or shell is soft, and has to harden. During this time, the lobster is highly vulnerable to predation and as a result they are usually very retiring until the new exoskeleton hardens fully. The diet is mostly composed of mollusks, but they also consume detritus, vegetable material, and dead animals and fish they find on the bottom.
P. argus is a nocturnal species, taking to cover during the day. While lunar cycle affects their larvae settlement in part, it variably affects adult activity based on location and other undetermined factors. Adult P. argus demonstrate physiological resilience to human-caused light pollution.
P. argus serve as prey for skates, nurse sharks, octopuses, snappers and groupers. They were the first major fisheries species found to be directly supported by chemosynthetic primary productivity from their prey, as opposed to photosynthetic primary productivity.
Although they generally prefer to remain near cover, at times groups of hundreds will line up and march across the floor off Florida and the Bahamas. The purpose of these migrations is not known, but they generally occur in the fall and may be in response to the onset of autumn storms.
