Palinurus elephas


Palinurus elephas is a commonly caught species of spiny lobster from the East Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Its common names include European spiny lobster, crayfish or cray, common spiny lobster, Mediterranean lobster and red lobster.

Distribution and habitat

Palinurus elephas is a common genus species of spiny lobster, found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from southern Norway to Morocco and the Azores, and in the Mediterranean Sea, except its eastern extremes. It lives on rocky exposed coasts below the intertidal zone, mainly at depths of. It is named after the ancient Roman Tyrrhenian sea port of Palinurus where they are found in abundance off its promontory.

Description

P. elephas may reach up to long, although rarely longer than, and usually. Few achieve their maximum weight of several kilograms.
The adults are reddish-brown with yellow spots. The carapace is slightly compressed and lacks lateral ridges. It is covered with forward pointing spines, with the supraorbital spines prominent. The antennae are very heavy and spiny. Their flagellum is tapering and is even longer than the body. The first walking leg is provided with subchela. The fourth segment of this leg has a characteristic row of spines.

Reproduction

The breeding season is in September and October, with the female brooding the reddish eggs. These eggs hatch about six months later in the spring as flattened, leaf-shaped, planktonic larvae.

Diet

It is nocturnal and feeds on small worms, crabs or dead animals, hiding in rock crevices or caves during the day.

Uses

It is a much sought-after delicacy and is widely caught for food around the Mediterranean Sea, mostly with lobster pots, and is also caught less intensively off the Atlantic Coasts of Ireland, Portugal, France and England. There are also small fisheries for this species on the west coast of Scotland, employing tangle nets or lobster pots.