Sculptured Slipper Lobster

Q: Where can you find Sculptured Slipper Lobster?

Sculptured Slipper Lobster can be found in: Honduras East, Malaysia East, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Panama East, USA East, Mexico South East, Costa Rica East, Malaysia West, Hawaii, Atlantic Ocean West, Somalia East, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Belize, Myanmar, Kenya, Lesser Antilles, USA West, Cuba East, Thailand West, Colombia North, Nicaragua East, Guatemala East, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam, Indo-Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Caribbean Sea, Trinidad & Tobago, Gulf of Mexico, Polynesia, Singapore, Tanzania, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, USA, Atlantic Ocean, Honduras, Cuba, Indonesia, Chagos Islands, Mexico, Mozambique, Philippines, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Brazil, Tonga and Samoa, Mascarene Islands, Madagascar, Jamaica, French Guiana, Puerto Rico, Comoros, Suriname, Fiji, Haiti, Bahamas, Thailand, Panama, Colombia, Somalia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Virgin Islands (U.K.).

Parribacus antarcticus

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Max Depth

20 m

Parribacus antarcticus is a species of slipper lobster. Its common names include "sculptured mitten lobster" and "sculptured slipper lobster" in English, and ula-pehu and ula-pápapa in Hawaiian.

Description

Parribacus antarcticus can reach a length of about 20 cm in males, but usually they are between 12 and 15 cm.. They are yellowish, mottled with brown and black patches, while rostrum and orbital margin are purplish. They have quite flattened bodies, with dorsal surface covered with tubercles and short hairs. The lateral margin shows large teeth banded with yellow, orange and light purple. In the abdominal somites the transverse groove is wide, with just a few hairs or tubercles. The small eyes are situated inside not closed orbits on the anterior margin of the carapace.

This species is nocturnal and in the daytime it usually hides in crevices or underside of large slabs or ledges, frequently in small groups. It can swim backwards very quickly by using the tails. This slipper lobster eats a variety of molluscs, small shrimps, crabs and sea urchins.

Distribution

P. antarcticus is distributed along the western coast the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to northern Brazil, along the southern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, and in Hawaii and Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean.

Habitat

These slipper lobsters are bottom dwellers. Their habitat are the shallow water of lagoons and coral or stone marine reefs, preferably with a sandy bottom, at a depth of 0 - 20 m.