California spiny lobster
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Order: Decapoda Infraorder: Achelata Family: Palinuridae Genus: Panulirus Species: P. interruptus
Binomial name
Panulirus interruptus Randall, 1842

The California spiny lobster is a species of spiny lobster found from the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula to Monterey Bay, California. They are generally found at very shallow depths near the coastline or near offshore islands. They migrate in order to mate and to give birth to their young. During the spring, California spiny lobster travel to shallow waters and then move to deeper waters in the fall. In December, they often move offshore to waters as deep as 35 m (110 feet). By late January, the lobsters generally move back up to depths between 4 and 12 m (15 and 45 feet) of water. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1265x843, 296 KB) Panulirus interruptus Photo: Shane Anderson. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... “Animalia” redirects here. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Classes & Subclasses Branchiopoda Phyllopoda Sarsostraca Remipedia Cephalocarida Maxillopoda Thecostraca Tantulocarida Branchiura Pentastomida Mystacocarida Copepoda Ostracoda Myodocopa Podocopa Malacostraca Phyllocarida Hoplocarida Eumalacostraca The nauplius larva of a dendrobranchiate Porcellio scaber, the common rough woodlouse, a terrestrial crustacean Pollicipes polymerus, the gooseneck barnacle Glyphea pseudastacus, a fossil glypheoid The crustaceans (Crustacea) are... Suborders Dendrobranchiata Pleocyemata See text for superfamilies. ... Families Palinuridae Scyllaridae (Synaxidae) The Achelata is an infra-order of the reptant Decapoda. ... Genera Jasus Linuparus Palinurus Panulirus Spiny lobsters, also known as rock lobsters are a family (Palinuridae) of about 45 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. ... Species See text. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ... John W. Randall (1813 – 1892) was a American doctor and carcinologist. ... Genera Jasus Linuparus Palinurus Panulirus Spiny lobsters, also known as rock lobsters are a family (Palinuridae) of about 45 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. ... Baja California Peninsula (highlighted) The Baja California Peninsula or Lower California is a peninsula in the west of Mexico. ... A view of Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, south of San Francisco. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... mtDNA-based chart of large human migrations. ... The or meter (see spelling differences) is a measure of length. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

The California spiny lobster is generally nocturnal; during the day, these spiny lobsters can be found in hiding places such as small holes and cracks, or hidden in grass with other lobsters, but at night, they tend to hunt singly. Spiny lobsters are scavengers that mainly eat sessile or slow-moving animals, such as snails, sea urchins, clams, sponges, kelp, worms, mussels, scallops, barnacles, and fish. California spiny lobsters are a vital part of the California coast habitat because they keep the purple and red sea urchin population under control. The jaws of the California spiny lobster are extremely strong, and they are capable of crushing shells and bones of other animals. A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ... Look up sessile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The name snail applies to most members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells. ... Subclasses Euechinoidea Superorder Atelostomata Order Cassiduloida Order Spatangoida (heart urchins) Superorder Diadematacea Order Diadematoida Order Echinothurioida Order Pedinoida Superorder Echinacea Order Arbacioida Order Echinoida Order Phymosomatoida Order Salenioida Order Temnopleuroida Superorder Gnathostomata Order Clypeasteroida (sand dollars) Order Holectypoida Perischoechinoidea Order Cidaroida (pencil urchins) Sea urchins are small spiny sea creatures... Littleneck clams; the pictured mollusks are of the species Mercenaria mercenaria. ... Classes Calcarea Hexactinellida Demospongiae The sponges or poriferans (from Latin porus pore and ferre to bear) are animals of the phylum Porifera. ... Insert non-formatted text hereLink title Families Alariaceae Chordaceae Laminariaceae Lessoniaceae Phyllariaceae Pseudochordaceae For other uses, see Kelp (disambiguation). ... Click here for Computer worm For other uses, see Worm (disambiguation). ... Subclasses Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels) The term mussel is used for several families of bivalve molluscs inhabiting lakes, rivers, and creeks, as well as intertidal areas along coastlines worldwide. ... Genera See text. ... Superorders Acrothoracica Thoracica Rhizocephala A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea and is hence distantly related to crabs and lobsters. ... Subclasses Euechinoidea Superorder Atelostomata Order Cassiduloida Order Spatangoida (heart urchins) Superorder Diadematacea Order Diadematoida Order Echinothurioida Order Pedinoida Superorder Echinacea Order Arbacioida Order Echinoida Order Phymosomatoida Order Salenioida Order Temnopleuroida Superorder Gnathostomata Order Clypeasteroida (sand dollars) Order Holectypoida Perischoechinoidea Order Cidaroida (pencil urchins) Sea urchins are small spiny sea creatures...

One of the most noticeable features of the spiny lobster is the two large antennae. The antennae are longer than the body, and they are used to sense any movement in front of them. Spiny lobsters also have smaller antennae called antennules, which are used to sense food and predators. Insects display a wide variety of antennal shapes. ... Insects display a wide variety of antennal shapes. ...

Predators of the California spiny lobster include giant sea bass, kelp bass, California sheephead, California scorpionfish, rockfishes, octopus, California moray eels, sea otters, cabezon, horn sharks, leopard sharks, other lobsters, and humans. Binomial name Stereolepis gigas (Ayres, 1859) The giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas), also known as the black sea bass, is a fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean. ... Binomial name Semicossyphus pulcher (Ayres, 1854) The California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) is a fish native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. ... Genera Adelosebastes Helicolenus Hozukius Sebastes Sebasticus Sebastolobus Trachyscorpia The Sebastidae are a family of marine fish in the order Scorpaeniformes. ... Suborders †Pohlsepia (incertae sedis) †Proteroctopus (incertae sedis) †Palaeoctopus (incertae sedis) Cirrina Incirrina Synonyms Octopoida Leach, 1817 The octopus (Greek , eight-legs) is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. ... Genera See text. ... Binomial name Enhydra lutris (Linnaeus, 1758) The Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) is a large otter native to the North Pacific, from northern Japan and Kamchatka west across the Aleutian Islands south to California. ... Cabezone (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) The cabezone or cabezon is also known as Scorpaenichthys marmoratus. ... Binomial name Heterodontus francisci Girard, 1855 The Horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) is a shark from the bullhead shark order Heterodontiformes. ... Binomial name Triakis semifasciata Girard, 1855 The leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata, is a hound shark found in the coastal waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, along the coast of North America from Oregon to Baja California. ...

Although they lack the large claws (chelae) of true lobsters, one protection that these spiny lobsters have is the abundance of spines on their backs. The two largest spines located over their eyes are known colloquially as the horns. In the event of danger, the tail fan is used to propel the animal backwards (the caridoid escape reaction). Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ... Raised thorns on the stem of the wait-a-bit climber Thorns on rose stems A spine is a rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure on an animal, shell, or plant, presumably serving as a defense against attack by predators. ... Antennules Pereiopods Carapace Pleopods Uropods Telson The body of a decapod crustacean, such as a crab, lobster, or prawn, is made up of nineteen body segments grouped into two main body parts, the cephalothorax and the abdomen. ... Animated representation of lobstering. ...

Mating takes places between January and April, with the ventral sides of the male and female animal against each other, during which a sperm packet is transferred from the male to the female. When the female spiny lobster is ready, she will scratch open the sperm packet with specialized claws while simultaneously releasing her eggs. Once the sperm have fertilized the eggs, they will stick to the pleopods (swimmerets) and stay there until hatched. A newly matured female will produce about 100,000 eggs while an older and larger female will make nearly 1,000,000. When the female spiny lobster is ready to release the fertilized eggs she goes to shallower, warmer water, usually in May or June. The eggs are bright red when first fertilized, but become dark brown after about ten weeks. Sevenspotted Lady Beetles mating In biology, mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic internal fertilization animals for copulation and, in social animals, also to raise their offspring. ... In zootomy, several terms are used to describe the location of organs and other structures in the body of bilateral animals. ... A spermatophore is a capsule or mass created by males of various invertebrate species, containing spermatozoa and transferred in entirety to the females ovipore during copulation. ... A claw is a curved pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger or, in arthropods, of the tarsus. ... In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... Categories: Biology stubs ... Antennules Pereiopods Carapace Pleopods Uropods Telson The body of a decapod crustacean is made up of nineteen body segments grouped into two main body parts, the cephalothorax and the abdomen. ...

The eggs hatch into Phyllosoma larvae, which look quite unlike the adult, and are free-floating creatures with very little mobility or defence. After about six to nine months, when the larva has molted 12 times, it will reach the puerulus (from the Latin meaning child) stage. This looks like a small lobster with very large antennae. The puerulus moves very close to shore where it molts into a juvenile spiny lobster. A larval insect A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Back in the days before divers went down to pick them by hand, spiny lobsters often grew to be 150 years old and over 1 m (3 ft) long. These giant spiny lobsters were too big to fit into any traps, and had very few predators. Most spiny lobsters now grow to the age of five to seven years before being caught. The largest on record is believed to be 12 kg (26 lb), and over three feet long ^[1]. This article is about a foot as a unit of length. ... The U.S. National Prototype Kilogram, which currently serves as the primary standard for measuring mass in the U.S. It was assigned to the United States in 1889 and is periodically recertified and traceable to the primary international standard, The Kilogram, held at the Bureau International des Poids et... Officially the pound is the name for at least three different units of mass: The pound (avoirdupois). ...

Hunting and eating

As seen in an aquarium

The spiny lobster, being nocturnal, is most easily gathered by walking through shallows at night, using a carried light. This is aided in its southern range by the warm waters present in bay shallows. Although not respected in the restaurant trade as much as the clawed lobster, it is known worldwide as "langusta" and its substantial tail muscles are similar in taste and texture to its clawed cold–water relative. Preparation by cooking is similar to lobster or to crayfish Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1800 × 1350 pixel, file size: 460 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo of Panulirus interruptus (spiny lobster) at the Birch Aquarium in San Diego, taken November 2005 by User:Stan Shebs File links The following pages... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1800 × 1350 pixel, file size: 460 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo of Panulirus interruptus (spiny lobster) at the Birch Aquarium in San Diego, taken November 2005 by User:Stan Shebs File links The following pages... Families Astacoidea   Astacidae   Cambaridae Parastacoidea   Parastacidae Crayfish, often referred to as crawfish or crawdad, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are closely related. ...

As with other shellfish, the eating of this animal is restricted by some religions particularly Jewish dietary law, and some interpretations of Islamic dietary laws. Cooked mussels Shellfish is a term used to describe shelled molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ... Look up kosher in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This is a sub-article to Hygiene in Islam, Healthy diet and Food and cooking hygiene. ...

References

1. ^ Kristine C. Barsky (2001). California Spiny Lobster (PDF), California Department of Fish and Game. 

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for desktop publishing use. ... The California Department of Fish and Game is one of fifteen Environment and Natural Resources Agencies in California. ...

External links

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