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Scyllarus arctus is a species of slipper lobster which lives in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is uncommon in British and Irish waters, but a number of English-language vernacular names have been applied, including small European locust lobster, [2] lesser slipper lobster [3] and broad lobster. [4]
S. arctus is found throughout the Mediterranean Sea, and in eastern parts of the Atlantic Ocean, from the Azores, [3] Madeira and the Canary Islands as far north as the English Channel. [5] The species is rare north of the Bay of Biscay; several specimens have been seen in British waters, but nonetheless, S. arctus is rarer in Britain than the giant squid, Architeuthis dux. [6] Until 1960, S. arctus was thought to be the only species of Scyllarus in the Mediterranean Sea, but then it was realised that the lesser known Scyllarus pygmaeus is also present throughout much of the Mediterranean Sea. [7]
Scyllarus arctus may reach up to 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long, although sizes of 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) are more typical. It is reddish-brown in colour, with a dark brown spot in the centre of each abdominal somite, although this is not sharply defined. The pereiopods have a dark blue ring around each segment. [5] It can be told apart from its close relative Scyllarus pygmaeus , which lives sympatrically with S. arctus, chiefly by its larger size, but also by other features such as the shape of a tubercle on the last thoracic sternite; this is flattened in S. arctus, but conical in S. pygmaeus. [7] S. arctus has among the smallest measured genome sizes in the Order Decapoda, at less than a third of that seen in the related genus Scyllarides . [8]
S. arctus is susceptible to white spot syndrome, [9] and is predated upon by a wide range of demersal fish. [10] It lives at depths of 4–50 m on muddy or rocky substrates, and in Posidonia meadows. It is the subject of small scale fishery, but its scarcity and its small size make it an unattractive target. [5]
The Achelata is an infra-order of the decapod crustaceans, holding the spiny lobsters, slipper lobsters and their fossil relatives.
Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, with one species occupying caves above sea level. More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are commercially fished.
Nephrops norvegicus, known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, shlobster (shrimp-lobster), langoustine or shrimp, is a slim, coral colored lobster that grows up to 25 cm (10 in) long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is now the only extant species in the genus Nephrops, after several other species were moved to the closely related genus Metanephrops. It lives in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, and parts of the Mediterranean Sea, but is absent from the Baltic Sea and Black Sea. Adults emerge from their burrows at night to feed on worms and fish.
Slipper lobsters are a family (Scyllaridae) of about 90 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda clade Reptantia, found in all warm oceans and seas. They are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lobsters. Slipper lobsters are instantly recognisable by their enlarged antennae, which project forward from the head as wide plates. All the species of slipper lobsters are edible, and some, such as the Moreton Bay bug and the Balmain bug are of commercial importance.
Ibacus peronii, the Balmain bug or butterfly fan lobster, is a species of slipper lobster. It lives in shallow waters around Australia and is the subject of small-scale fishery. It is a flattened, reddish brown animal, up to 23 cm (9 in) long and 14 cm (6 in) wide, with flattened antennae and no claws.
Upogebia deltaura is a species of mud lobster from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
The phyllosoma is the larval stage of spiny and slipper lobster, and represents one of the most significant characteristics that unify them into the taxon Achelata. Its body is remarkably thin, flat, and transparent, with long legs.
Polychelida is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans. Fossil representatives are known dating from as far back as the Upper Triassic. A total of 38 extant species, all in the family Polychelidae, and 55 fossil species have been described.
Polycheles typhlops is a species of blind, deep water decapod crustacean with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is "one of the dominant and most characteristic crustaceans in deep-sea communities of the Mediterranean Sea".
Scyllarides latus, the Mediterranean slipper lobster, is a species of slipper lobster found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is edible and highly regarded as food, but is now rare over much of its range due to overfishing. Adults may grow to 1 foot (30 cm) long, are camouflaged, and have no claws. They are nocturnal, emerging from caves and other shelters during the night to feed on molluscs. As well as being eaten by humans, S. latus is also preyed upon by a variety of bony fish. Its closest relative is S. herklotsii, which occurs off the Atlantic coast of West Africa; other species of Scyllarides occur in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific. The larvae and young animals are largely unknown.
Scyllarides is a genus of slipper lobsters.
Scyllarus is a genus of slipper lobsters from the Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Until 2002, the genus included far more species, but these are now placed in other genera. The following species remain in Scyllarus:
Arctides guineensis is a species of slipper lobster that lives in the Bermuda Triangle. It is known in Bermuda as the small Spanish lobster, a name which is also favoured by the FAO.
Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. The larvae of crustaceans often bear little resemblance to the adult, and there are still cases where it is not known what larvae will grow into what adults. This is especially true of crustaceans which live as benthic adults, more-so than where the larvae are planktonic, and thereby easily caught.
Palinurus mauritanicus is a species of spiny lobster. It is found in deep waters in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea.
Scyllarus pygmaeus is a species of slipper lobster that lives in shallow water in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. It grows to a length of 55 mm (2.2 in), which is too small for it to be fished for food. The juvenile form was first described in 1885, with the description of the adult following in 1888 as a result of the Challenger expedition.
Galearctus avulsus is a species of slipper lobster that lives around New Caledonia. It was described in 2011, having previously been included in Galearctus kitanovirosus. It differs from the other species of the genus Galearctus most noticeably in the shape of a groove on the sternum.
Ibacus ciliatus is a species of slipper lobster from the north-west Pacific Ocean.
Crustaceans are a group of arthropods that are a part of the subphylum Crustacea, a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthropods including decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, opossum shrimps, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can be treated as a subphylum under the clade Mandibulata. It is now well accepted that the hexapods emerged deep in the Crustacean group, with the completed group referred to as Pancrustacea. The three classes Cephalocarida, Branchiopoda and Remipedia are more closely related to the hexapods than they are to any of the other crustaceans.
The Chinese spiny lobster, also known as the green lobster or Hong Kong rock lobster, is a member of the genus Panulirus of spiny lobsters endemic to the East and South China Seas. It is a moderate size, commercially important species with a range that extends along the east coast of China from Shanghai to Hong Kong. It has also been found in the Taiwan Strait.
Media related to Scyllarus arctus at Wikimedia Commons