California spiny lobster
Encyclopedia
The California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus, is a species of spiny lobster
found in the eastern Pacific Ocean
from Monterey Bay
, California
to the Gulf of Tehuantepec
, Mexico
. It typically grows to a length of 30 cm (11.8 in) and is a reddish-brown color with stripes along the legs, and has a pair of enlarged antennae
but no claws. The interrupted grooves across the tail are characteristic for the species.
Females can carry up to 680,000 eggs, which hatch after 10 weeks into flat phyllosoma
larvae. These feed on plankton
before the metamorphosis
into the juvenile state. Adults are nocturnal and migratory
, living among rocks at depths of up to 65 m (213.3 ft), and feeding on sea urchin
s, clam
s, mussel
s and worm
s. The spiny lobster is eaten by various fish, octopus
es and sea otter
s, but can defend itself with a loud noise produced by its antennae. The California spiny lobster is the subject of both commercial and recreational fishery in both Mexico and the United States, with sport fishermen
using hoop nets and commercial fishermen using lobster trap
s.
s, the California spiny lobster has two large, spiny antennae
, but no large claw
s on its legs. The California spiny lobster is one of the largest spiny lobster species, and grows up to 60 centimetres (23.6 in) long, but does not usually exceed 30 cm (11.8 in). Males can weigh up to 12 kilograms (26.5 lb). The upper side of the animal is brownish red, without the paler bands or spots seen in some other spiny lobsters. The legs are a similar color, but with one or more lighter streaks running along their length.
Males and females of all ages can be distinguished by the position of the two round genital openings or gonopore
s. In females, they are at the bases of the third pair of pereiopods, while in males they are at the base of the fifth (last) pereiopods, furthest from the head and the closest to the abdomen. Mature females have a small claw
on the fifth pereiopod, and enlarged pleopods.
, and along the Pacific coast
of the length of the Baja California peninsula
, extending as far north as San Luis Obispo Bay, California
. There are occasional records from Monterey Bay
, but the water there is too cold for the California spiny lobster to breed, and it is thought that any adult found in Central California
arrived as a larva during El Niño years
.
California spiny lobsters live on rocky substrates
, at depths of up to 65 metres (213.3 ft). Although they can be found in shallow water, including tide pool
s, they are more frequent in deeper waters. Juveniles generally inhabit rocky habitats at a depth of 0 metre with dense plant cover, especially the surf grass Phyllospadix torreyi.
California spiny lobsters are nocturnal, hiding in crevices during the day, with only the tips of their long antennae showing, as a means of avoiding predators. Towards dawn, the spiny lobsters form aggregations, which they maintain until dusk. At night, they emerge and feed on sea urchin
s, clam
s, mussel
s and worm
s. This activity is important in limiting sea urchin populations, and so maintaining healthy seabed communities.
Natural predators of the California spiny lobster include bony fish
such as the California sheepshead
, giant sea bass
and cabezone
, shark
s including the horn shark
and leopard shark
, octopus
es and sea otter
s. In response to an approaching predator, spiny lobsters including the California spiny lobster can produce a loud noise using the stick-slip phenomenon
, akin to a bowed instrument. The bases of the antennae
act as a plectrum
, which is rubbed over a file
on the edge of the antennular plate. If a predator is very close, spiny lobsters will flex their muscular tail in order to escape the predator, backwards.
There is an annual migration
, in which spiny lobsters enter shallower water in spring and summer, and head out to deeper water in fall and winter, reaching depths as great as 240 ft (73.2 m), perhaps to avoid the effects of winter storm
s.
at a length of 65 millimetre, which is typically at an age of 5–9 years; males are sexually mature after 3–6 years. Because all the hard parts are lost at each molt, the life span of mature spiny lobsters is uncertain; they are thought to live for 50 years or more.
Spiny lobsters do not have the gonopods (first pleopods modified for reproduction) that occur in clawed lobsters
and crab
s, and females do not have a deep pocket on the sternum
in which to store sperm. Instead, a spermatophore
is transferred directly from one of the male's gonopores to the sternum of the female. The male gonopore is, however, adorned with a "penile process", which is straight and serrated, with a small "hairbrush". The sternum of mature females has three "windows" on the last three segments, which uniquely among Panulirus species, span both halves of the sternum. These windows are softer than the rest of the exoskeleton
, and are thought to help the male locate the correct location to place the tar
-like spermatophore.
After mating, the fertilized eggs are carried on the female's pleopods until they hatch, with between 120,000 and 680,000 carried by a single female. The eggs begin coral red, but darken as they develop to a deep maroon. When she is carrying the eggs, the female is said to be "berried". The eggs are ready to hatch after 10 weeks, and spawning takes place from May to August, The larva
e that hatch (called phyllosoma
larvae) do not resemble the adults. Instead, they are flat, transparent
animals around 14 mm (0.551181102362205 in) long, but as thin as a sheet of paper. The larvae feed on plankton
, and grow through ten molts
into ten further larval stages, the last of which is around 30 millimetre long. The full series of larval molts takes around 7 months, and when the last stage molts, it metamorphoses
into the puerulus state, which is a juvenile
form of the adult, albeit still transparent. The puerulus larvae settle to the sea floor when the water is near its maximum temperature, which in Baja California is in the fall.
The diet of the juveniles is varied, but comprises mostly amphipods
and isopods
, together with coralline algae
and the plant Phyllospadix
. When available, the juveniles prefer to eat crab
s.
noted that the California spiny lobster is "used as food by the natives" of Upper California. The California spiny lobster is now the most economically important lobster on the American West Coast
. Sport fishing
may account for up to half the entire catch, while most of the commercial catch comes from lobster trap
s, with smaller amounts coming from the use of trammel nets or by trawling
. The major fishing area is west of Baja California
, and imports from Mexico to the United States
are twice the amount produced in California
.
are allowed to catch lobsters with hoop nets
or by SCUBA diving
or free-diving
; almost all come from California, with only small numbers from other U.S. states. The California Department of Fish and Game
estimates that recreational fishers caught more than 200,000 spiny lobsters in the first half of the 2008/2009 season, amounting to around 280000 pounds (127,005.9 kg), compared to commercial fishermen, who caught a total of 580000 lb (263,083.6 kg) in the same time.
The California Department of Fish and Game
sets and enforces a number of regulations pertaining to recreational fishing of spiny lobsters:
ed traps
, but may not dive for lobsters.
For those using lobster traps, the fishing effort is greatest at the beginning of the permitted season in California, and peters out towards the end of the season, 24 weeks later. Although the fishing effort becomes better concentrated on areas with more spiny lobsters during the season, the fishing efficiency (catch per unit effort
) nonetheless decreases throughout the season.
, spiny lobsters are an important commercial resource, representing the fifth most valuable fishery, worth US$
18 million. Three species are exploited along the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula, but the catch of 744 t of the California spiny lobster makes up 95%–97% of the total, with only small quantities of Panulirus inflatus and Panulirus gracilis. The fishing rights are held by 26 local co-operatives.
The main legal restrictions on fishing for California spiny lobster in Mexico are a minimum landing size of 82.5 mm (3.2 in), the prohibition of catching berried females, and a closed season: from February 16 to November 15, fishing for spiny lobsters is prohibited in a region which moves south along Mexico's Pacific coast during the season.
The Mexican fishery for the California spiny lobster was the first Latin America
n fishery to be awarded the Marine Stewardship Council
's sustainable fishery ecolabel
, and the species is classed as Least Concern
on the IUCN Red List
.
, but a number of other local, vernacular names exist, including California lobster, California marine crayfish, and red lobster in the United States
, and and in Mexico
. The preferred common name of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
is simply spiny lobster.
John Witt Randall
described the species
in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1840, based on material given to him by Thomas Nuttall
. The exact locality is not known, being given only as "Upper California", but the most likely sources are the places where Nuttall was most active, namely Santa Barbara
and San Diego. The specific epithet interruptus refers to the grooves on the abdominal
tergites, which are interrupted in this species. Although originally placed in the genus Palinurus
, the California spiny lobster was later transferred to Adam White's
new genus Panulirus, together with other spiny lobsters that have long flagella on their first antennae.
, which is one of several genera of spiny lobster
s whose names are anagram
s of the original spiny lobster genus, Palinurus
. Its closest relatives are not the other species that occur in the East Pacific, but rather Panulirus argus
from the Caribbean Sea
and West Pacific species such as Panulirus japonicus
, Panulirus marginatus
, Panulirus pascuensis
, Panulirus cygnus and Panulirus longipes; this relationship has been recovered from comparative studies
of adult and larval morphology
, as well as from molecular phylogenetics, using the sequences from cytochrome c oxidase
and 16S ribosomal RNA
genes.
The California spiny lobster can be differentiated from the other species in the genus by the interrupted grooves across the abdomen; other species either lack grooves, or have grooves which span the entire body segment.
Spiny lobster
Spiny lobsters, also known as langouste or rock lobsters, are a family of about 45 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia...
found in the eastern Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
from Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to the Gulf of Tehuantepec
Gulf of Tehuantepec
Gulf of Tehuantepec is a large body of water on the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, southeastern Mexico, at . Most of the hurricanes that form in the Eastern Pacific organize in or near this body of water...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It typically grows to a length of 30 cm (11.8 in) and is a reddish-brown color with stripes along the legs, and has a pair of enlarged antennae
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
but no claws. The interrupted grooves across the tail are characteristic for the species.
Females can carry up to 680,000 eggs, which hatch after 10 weeks into flat phyllosoma
Phyllosoma
The phyllosoma is the larval stage of spiny, slipper and coral lobsters , and represents one of the most significant characteristics that unify them into the taxon Achelata...
larvae. These feed on plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
before the metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
into the juvenile state. Adults are nocturnal and migratory
Animal migration
Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individuals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon, found in all major animal groups, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans. The trigger for the migration may be local...
, living among rocks at depths of up to 65 m (213.3 ft), and feeding on sea urchin
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
s, clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s and worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s. The spiny lobster is eaten by various fish, octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
es and sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s, but can defend itself with a loud noise produced by its antennae. The California spiny lobster is the subject of both commercial and recreational fishery in both Mexico and the United States, with sport fishermen
Recreational fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival....
using hoop nets and commercial fishermen using lobster trap
Lobster trap
Not to be confused with Lobster-tailed potA lobster trap or lobster pot is a portable trap that traps lobsters or crayfish and is used in lobster fishing. A lobster trap can hold several lobsters. Lobster traps are constructed of wire and wood. An opening permits the lobster to enter a tunnel of...
s.
Description
In common with all spiny lobsterSpiny lobster
Spiny lobsters, also known as langouste or rock lobsters, are a family of about 45 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia...
s, the California spiny lobster has two large, spiny antennae
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
, but no large claw
Claw
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger in most mammals, birds, and some reptiles. However, the word "claw" is also often used in reference to an invertebrate. Somewhat similar fine hooked structures are found in arthropods such as beetles and spiders, at the end...
s on its legs. The California spiny lobster is one of the largest spiny lobster species, and grows up to 60 centimetres (23.6 in) long, but does not usually exceed 30 cm (11.8 in). Males can weigh up to 12 kilograms (26.5 lb). The upper side of the animal is brownish red, without the paler bands or spots seen in some other spiny lobsters. The legs are a similar color, but with one or more lighter streaks running along their length.
Males and females of all ages can be distinguished by the position of the two round genital openings or gonopore
Gonopore
A gonopore, sometimes called a gonadopore, is a genital pore in many invertebrates. Hexapods, including insects have a single common gonopore, except mayflies, which have a pair of gonopores...
s. In females, they are at the bases of the third pair of pereiopods, while in males they are at the base of the fifth (last) pereiopods, furthest from the head and the closest to the abdomen. Mature females have a small claw
Claw
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger in most mammals, birds, and some reptiles. However, the word "claw" is also often used in reference to an invertebrate. Somewhat similar fine hooked structures are found in arthropods such as beetles and spiders, at the end...
on the fifth pereiopod, and enlarged pleopods.
Distribution
The California spiny lobster is found in parts of the Gulf of CaliforniaGulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
, and along the Pacific coast
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
of the length of the Baja California peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
, extending as far north as San Luis Obispo Bay, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. There are occasional records from Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
, but the water there is too cold for the California spiny lobster to breed, and it is thought that any adult found in Central California
Central California
Central California, sometimes referenced as Mid-State, is an area of California south of the San Francisco Bay Area and north of Southern California...
arrived as a larva during El Niño years
El Niño-Southern Oscillation
El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a quasiperiodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years...
.
California spiny lobsters live on rocky substrates
Substrate (biology)
In biology a substrate is the surface a plant or animal lives upon and grows on. A substrate can include biotic or abiotic materials and animals. For example, encrusting algae that lives on a rock can be substrate for another animal that lives on top of the algae. See also substrate .-External...
, at depths of up to 65 metres (213.3 ft). Although they can be found in shallow water, including tide pool
Tide pool
Tide pools are rocky pools by oceans that are filled with seawater. Many of these pools exist as separate entities only at low tide.Tide pools are habitats of uniquely adaptable animals that have engaged the special attention of naturalists and marine biologists, as well as philosophical...
s, they are more frequent in deeper waters. Juveniles generally inhabit rocky habitats at a depth of 0 metre with dense plant cover, especially the surf grass Phyllospadix torreyi.
Ecology and behavior
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
s, clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s and worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s. This activity is important in limiting sea urchin populations, and so maintaining healthy seabed communities.
Natural predators of the California spiny lobster include bony fish
Osteichthyes
Osteichthyes , also called bony fish, are a taxonomic group of fish that have bony, as opposed to cartilaginous, skeletons. The vast majority of fish are osteichthyes, which is an extremely diverse and abundant group consisting of over 29,000 species...
such as the California sheepshead
California sheephead
The California sheephead is a wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Monterey Bay, California to the Gulf of California, Mexico.- Description :...
, giant sea bass
Giant sea bass
The giant sea bass is a fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Despite its conspicuous size and curious nature, relatively little is known about its biology or behavior....
and cabezone
Cabezone
The Cabezon or also commonly referred to as the mother-in-law fish to Floridians, Scorpaenichthys marmoratus, is a sculpin native to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America...
, shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s including the horn shark
Horn shark
The horn shark is a species of bullhead shark, family Heterodontidae. It is endemic to the coastal waters off the western coast of North America, from California to the Gulf of California. Young sharks are segregated spatially from the adults, with the former preferring deeper sandy flats and the...
and leopard shark
Leopard shark
The leopard shark is a species of houndshark, family Triakidae, found along the Pacific coast of North America from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico...
, octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
es and sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s. In response to an approaching predator, spiny lobsters including the California spiny lobster can produce a loud noise using the stick-slip phenomenon
Stick-slip phenomenon
The stick-slip phenomenon, also known as the slip-stick phenomenon or simply stick-slip, is the spontaneous jerking motion that can occur while two objects are sliding over each other.- Cause :...
, akin to a bowed instrument. The bases of the antennae
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
act as a plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
, which is rubbed over a file
File (tool)
A file is a metalworking and woodworking tool used to cut fine amounts of material from a workpiece. It most commonly refers to the hand tool style, which takes the form of a steel bar with a case hardened surface and a series of sharp, parallel teeth. Most files have a narrow, pointed tang at one...
on the edge of the antennular plate. If a predator is very close, spiny lobsters will flex their muscular tail in order to escape the predator, backwards.
There is an annual migration
Animal migration
Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individuals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon, found in all major animal groups, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans. The trigger for the migration may be local...
, in which spiny lobsters enter shallower water in spring and summer, and head out to deeper water in fall and winter, reaching depths as great as 240 ft (73.2 m), perhaps to avoid the effects of winter storm
Winter storm
A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form...
s.
Life cycle
Female California spiny lobsters reach sexual maturitySexual maturity
Sexual maturity is the age or stage when an organism can reproduce. It is sometimes considered synonymous with adulthood, though the two are distinct...
at a length of 65 millimetre, which is typically at an age of 5–9 years; males are sexually mature after 3–6 years. Because all the hard parts are lost at each molt, the life span of mature spiny lobsters is uncertain; they are thought to live for 50 years or more.
Spiny lobsters do not have the gonopods (first pleopods modified for reproduction) that occur in clawed lobsters
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
and crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, and females do not have a deep pocket on the sternum
Sternum (arthropod)
The sternum is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen.In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external...
in which to store sperm. Instead, a spermatophore
Spermatophore
A spermatophore or sperm ampulla is a capsule or mass created by males of various animal species, containing spermatozoa and transferred in entirety to the female's ovipore during copulation...
is transferred directly from one of the male's gonopores to the sternum of the female. The male gonopore is, however, adorned with a "penile process", which is straight and serrated, with a small "hairbrush". The sternum of mature females has three "windows" on the last three segments, which uniquely among Panulirus species, span both halves of the sternum. These windows are softer than the rest of the exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
, and are thought to help the male locate the correct location to place the tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
-like spermatophore.
After mating, the fertilized eggs are carried on the female's pleopods until they hatch, with between 120,000 and 680,000 carried by a single female. The eggs begin coral red, but darken as they develop to a deep maroon. When she is carrying the eggs, the female is said to be "berried". The eggs are ready to hatch after 10 weeks, and spawning takes place from May to August, The larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e that hatch (called phyllosoma
Phyllosoma
The phyllosoma is the larval stage of spiny, slipper and coral lobsters , and represents one of the most significant characteristics that unify them into the taxon Achelata...
larvae) do not resemble the adults. Instead, they are flat, transparent
Transparency and translucency
In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...
animals around 14 mm (0.551181102362205 in) long, but as thin as a sheet of paper. The larvae feed on plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
, and grow through ten molts
Ecdysis
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in many invertebrates. This process of moulting is the defining feature of the clade Ecdysozoa, comprising the arthropods, nematodes, velvet worms, horsehair worms, rotifers, tardigrades and Cephalorhyncha...
into ten further larval stages, the last of which is around 30 millimetre long. The full series of larval molts takes around 7 months, and when the last stage molts, it metamorphoses
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
into the puerulus state, which is a juvenile
Juvenile (organism)
A juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour...
form of the adult, albeit still transparent. The puerulus larvae settle to the sea floor when the water is near its maximum temperature, which in Baja California is in the fall.
The diet of the juveniles is varied, but comprises mostly amphipods
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...
and isopods
Isopoda
Isopods are an order of peracarid crustaceans, including familiar animals such as woodlice and pill bugs. The name Isopoda derives from the Greek roots and...
, together with coralline algae
Coralline algae
Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls...
and the plant Phyllospadix
Phyllospadix
Phyllospadix is a genus of seagrass or surfgrass, a flowering plant in the family Zosteraceae, comprising 5 species. Phyllospadix grows in marine waters along the coasts of the temperate North Pacific.- Species :...
. When available, the juveniles prefer to eat crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s.
Fishery
In his original description, John Witt RandallJohn Witt Randall
John Witt Randall was an American naturalist, poet and art collector.John Witt Randall was born to the physician Dr. John Randall and his wife Elizabeth Wells in 1813...
noted that the California spiny lobster is "used as food by the natives" of Upper California. The California spiny lobster is now the most economically important lobster on the American West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. Sport fishing
Recreational fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival....
may account for up to half the entire catch, while most of the commercial catch comes from lobster trap
Lobster trap
Not to be confused with Lobster-tailed potA lobster trap or lobster pot is a portable trap that traps lobsters or crayfish and is used in lobster fishing. A lobster trap can hold several lobsters. Lobster traps are constructed of wire and wood. An opening permits the lobster to enter a tunnel of...
s, with smaller amounts coming from the use of trammel nets or by trawling
Trawling
Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl....
. The major fishing area is west of Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, and imports from Mexico to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are twice the amount produced in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Sport fishing in California
Recreational fishermenRecreational fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival....
are allowed to catch lobsters with hoop nets
Hand net
A hand net, also called a scoop net, is a net or mesh basket held open by a hoop. It may or may not be on the end of a handle. Hand nets have been used since antiquity and can be used for scooping fish near the surface of the water, such as muskellunge or northern pike.A hand net with a long handle...
or by SCUBA diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
or free-diving
Free-diving
Freediving is any of various aquatic activities that share the practice of breath-hold underwater diving. Examples include breathhold spear fishing, freedive photography, apnea competitions and, to a degree, snorkeling...
; almost all come from California, with only small numbers from other U.S. states. The California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
estimates that recreational fishers caught more than 200,000 spiny lobsters in the first half of the 2008/2009 season, amounting to around 280000 pounds (127,005.9 kg), compared to commercial fishermen, who caught a total of 580000 lb (263,083.6 kg) in the same time.
The California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
sets and enforces a number of regulations pertaining to recreational fishing of spiny lobsters:
- Open seasonOpen season (hunting)Open season is a hunting term used to describe the time of the year when a particular wildlife species is allowed to be hunted as per local wildlife conservation law...
for California spiny lobster runs from the Saturday before the first Wednesday in October until the first Wednesday after March 15. - No implements other than hoop netsHand netA hand net, also called a scoop net, is a net or mesh basket held open by a hoop. It may or may not be on the end of a handle. Hand nets have been used since antiquity and can be used for scooping fish near the surface of the water, such as muskellunge or northern pike.A hand net with a long handle...
may be used; no one person may have more than 5 nets and no vessel may use more than 10 hoop nets. When fishing from land, each fisherman is limited to two hoop nets. - Lobster fishers may not land more than seven California spiny lobsters on any given day, and may not have more than seven in their possession at any time.
- Fishers must carry a lobster gauge, and any lobster smaller than the minimum landing sizeMinimum landing sizeThe minimum landing size is the smallest length at which it is legal to keep or sell a fish. What the MLS is depends on the species of fish. Sizes also vary around the world, as they are legal definitions which are defined by the local regulatory authority...
must be returned to the sea immediately. The minimum size is a carapaceCarapaceA carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...
length of 3+1/4 in, measured along the midline from the rear of the eye socket between the horns, to the end of the carapace. This is equivalent to a total body length of 20 centimetres or 7.9 in. - To fish for spiny lobster south of Point ArguelloPoint ArguelloPoint Arguello is a headland used as a launch site by the United States Navy. Point Arguello was first used in 1959 for the launch of military and sounding rockets. It was transferred to the United States Air Force in 1964, at which time it became part of Vandenberg Air Force Base.There were 6...
, a sport fishing license with ocean enhancement stamp must be displayed or kept nearby. - A report card for the year must be bought, filled in and returned before the end of the following January.
- Commercial traps must not be interfered with.
Commercial fishing in California
The open season for commercial fishing begins on the first Wednesday in October and runs until the first Wednesday after the 15th of March. Commercial fishermen may use individually buoyBuoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
ed traps
Lobster trap
Not to be confused with Lobster-tailed potA lobster trap or lobster pot is a portable trap that traps lobsters or crayfish and is used in lobster fishing. A lobster trap can hold several lobsters. Lobster traps are constructed of wire and wood. An opening permits the lobster to enter a tunnel of...
, but may not dive for lobsters.
For those using lobster traps, the fishing effort is greatest at the beginning of the permitted season in California, and peters out towards the end of the season, 24 weeks later. Although the fishing effort becomes better concentrated on areas with more spiny lobsters during the season, the fishing efficiency (catch per unit effort
Catch per unit effort
In fisheries and conservation biology, the catch per unit effort is an indirect measure of the abundance of a target species. Changes in the catch per unit effort are inferred to signify changes to the target species' true abundance...
) nonetheless decreases throughout the season.
Fishing in Mexico
In MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, spiny lobsters are an important commercial resource, representing the fifth most valuable fishery, worth US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
18 million. Three species are exploited along the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula, but the catch of 744 t of the California spiny lobster makes up 95%–97% of the total, with only small quantities of Panulirus inflatus and Panulirus gracilis. The fishing rights are held by 26 local co-operatives.
The main legal restrictions on fishing for California spiny lobster in Mexico are a minimum landing size of 82.5 mm (3.2 in), the prohibition of catching berried females, and a closed season: from February 16 to November 15, fishing for spiny lobsters is prohibited in a region which moves south along Mexico's Pacific coast during the season.
| Start date | End date | Northern limit | Southern limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 16 | September 15 | Mexico – United States border | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of |
| March 1 | September 30 | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of |
| May 16 | November 15 | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of |
The Mexican fishery for the California spiny lobster was the first Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n fishery to be awarded the Marine Stewardship Council
Marine Stewardship Council
The Marine Stewardship Council is an independent non-profit organization with an ecolabel and fishery certification programme. Fisheries that are assessed and meet the standard can use the MSC blue ecolabel. The MSC mission is to 'reward sustainable fishing practices’...
's sustainable fishery ecolabel
Ecolabel
Ecolabels and Green Stickers are labelling systems for food and consumer products. Ecolabels are often voluntary, but Green Stickers are mandated by law in North America for major appliances and automobiles. They are a form of sustainability measurement directed at consumers, intended to make it...
, and the species is classed as Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
.
Names
Panulirus interruptus is called the California spiny lobster by the Food and Agriculture OrganizationFood and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
, but a number of other local, vernacular names exist, including California lobster, California marine crayfish, and red lobster in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and and in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The preferred common name of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
is simply spiny lobster.
John Witt Randall
John Witt Randall
John Witt Randall was an American naturalist, poet and art collector.John Witt Randall was born to the physician Dr. John Randall and his wife Elizabeth Wells in 1813...
described the species
Alpha taxonomy
Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...
in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1840, based on material given to him by Thomas Nuttall
Thomas Nuttall
Thomas Nuttall was an English botanist and zoologist, who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841....
. The exact locality is not known, being given only as "Upper California", but the most likely sources are the places where Nuttall was most active, namely Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
and San Diego. The specific epithet interruptus refers to the grooves on the abdominal
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
tergites, which are interrupted in this species. Although originally placed in the genus Palinurus
Palinurus (genus)
Palinurus is a genus of spiny lobsters in the family Palinuridae. A 110 million-year old fossil, recognisable as a member of the genus Palinurus, was discovered in a quarry in El Espinal in Mexico's Chiapas state in 1995 and named P...
, the California spiny lobster was later transferred to Adam White's
Adam White (zoologist)
-Biography:White was born in Edinburgh. He became acquainted with John Edward Gray, Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum. At the age of eighteen, White obtained a post in the Museum in the Zoology Department....
new genus Panulirus, together with other spiny lobsters that have long flagella on their first antennae.
Related species
The California spiny lobster is one of 19 species in the genus PanulirusPanulirus
Panulirus is a genus of spiny lobsters in the family Palinuridae, including those species which have long flagella on their first antennae. It contains the following species:* Panulirus argus — Caribbean spiny lobster...
, which is one of several genera of spiny lobster
Spiny lobster
Spiny lobsters, also known as langouste or rock lobsters, are a family of about 45 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia...
s whose names are anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
s of the original spiny lobster genus, Palinurus
Palinurus (genus)
Palinurus is a genus of spiny lobsters in the family Palinuridae. A 110 million-year old fossil, recognisable as a member of the genus Palinurus, was discovered in a quarry in El Espinal in Mexico's Chiapas state in 1995 and named P...
. Its closest relatives are not the other species that occur in the East Pacific, but rather Panulirus argus
Panulirus argus
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.-Anatomy:...
from the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
and West Pacific species such as Panulirus japonicus
Japanese spiny lobster
The Japanese spiny lobster, Panulirus japonicus, is a member of the Panulirus genus of spiny lobsters. It grows up to long and lives in the Pacific Ocean around Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. P. japonicus is the subject of commercial lobster fishery in Japan. It is a popular item in high-class...
, Panulirus marginatus
Panulirus marginatus
Panulirus marginatus is a species of spiny lobster in the family Palinuridae which is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the subject of extensive commercial and recreational fisheries....
, Panulirus pascuensis
Panulirus pascuensis
Panulirus pascuensis is a species of spiny lobster found around Easter Island and the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is known in English as the Easter Island spiny lobster, and in Spanish as . Adults grow to a total length of , with a carapace long, and are fished on a small scale for...
, Panulirus cygnus and Panulirus longipes; this relationship has been recovered from comparative studies
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
of adult and larval morphology
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
, as well as from molecular phylogenetics, using the sequences from cytochrome c oxidase
Cytochrome c oxidase
The enzyme cytochrome c oxidase or Complex IV is a large transmembrane protein complex found in bacteria and the mitochondrion.It is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of mitochondria located in the mitochondrial membrane...
and 16S ribosomal RNA
16S ribosomal RNA
16S ribosomal RNA is a component of the 30S subunit of prokaryotic ribosomes. It is approximately 1.5kb in length...
genes.
The California spiny lobster can be differentiated from the other species in the genus by the interrupted grooves across the abdomen; other species either lack grooves, or have grooves which span the entire body segment.