Palibythus magnificus, sometimes called the musical furry lobster, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of furry lobster

Furry lobster

Furry lobsters are small decapod crustaceans, closely related to the slipper lobsters and spiny lobsters. The antennae are not as enlarged as in spiny and slipper lobsters, and the body is covered in short hairs, hence the name furry lobster...

 found in Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

. It is generally included in the family Palinuridae

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...

, although it has also been separated from that family with the genus Palinurellus to form the family Synaxidae in the past. The species is known in Samoan

Samoan language

Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most...

 as , a name which also covers the deep water shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

 Heterocarpus laevigatus.

Distribution

Palibythus is only known to occur around Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

 and the Tuamotu Archipelago

Tuamotus

The Tuamotus or the Tuamotu Archipelago are a chain of islands and atolls in French Polynesia. They form the largest chain of atolls in the world, spanning an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly the size of Western Europe...

. It lives at greater depth than Palinurellus – from 90 metres (295 ft) to 300 metres (984 ft) – and is slightly larger, at up to 27 centimetres (11 in) in length. All the specimens held in zoological museums stem from the waters of Samoa, with only photos so far known of an animal from the Tuamotu Archipelago that is "almost definitely this species".

Sound

Like other 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 (with the exception of the genera Jasus

Jasus

Jasus is a genus of spiny lobsters which live in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. They have two distinct "horns" projecting from the front of the carapace, but lack the stridulating organs present in almost all other genera of spiny lobsters...

and Projasus), Palibythus is capable of making a loud screeching noise to distract or discourage potential predators. This is achieved by rubbing plectra

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...

 at the base 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....

 against elongated "files" on the sides of the antennular plate.

Relatives

Palibythus was originally placed with Palinurellus in the family Synaxidae, on the basis that both genera possess a triangular rostrum

Rostrum (anatomy)

The term rostrum is used for a number of unrelated structures in different groups of animals:*In crustaceans, the rostrum is the forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes....

 which is absent in the other genera of spiny lobsters, and that both genera lack the supra-orbital horns found in the other spiny lobster genera. Despite this, however, the two genera of furry lobsters are not sister taxa. The genera most closely related to Palibythus are Panulirus

Panulirus

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...

and Palinurus

Palinurus

Palinurus, in Roman mythology, is the helmsman of a ship of the Trojan hero Aeneas, whose descendants would one day found the city of Rome. As the price for the safe passage of Aeneas and his people from Sicily to Italy, Palinurus loses his life, one on behalf of many Palinurus, in Roman mythology,...

, while Palinurellus is closest to Jasus

Jasus

Jasus is a genus of spiny lobsters which live in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. They have two distinct "horns" projecting from the front of the carapace, but lack the stridulating organs present in almost all other genera of spiny lobsters...

and Projasus, two other genera which lack the stridulating

Stridulation

Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fishes, snakes and spiders...

 organ.

Fishery

Although Palibythus is a large enough lobster to provide food for human consumption, its rarity, and the depths at which it lives, seems to preclude any commercial fishery.