Species of lobster in Florida Waters and Reefs

By: Casey Taylor

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster is the main lobster in Florida.

It is also known as the Florida Lobster

The of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster

It has a unique body structure Sense it is a crustacean,

invertebrate and in phylum arthropod, the lobster has a hard out shell also known as an exoskeleton

The Lobster has an extremely large and strong abdomen.

The Spiny Lobster’s external appearance is also very unique.

It is tan with a yellow spotted tail

This lobster gets its name from its sharp spiny carapace.

In addition, the Caribbean Spiny lobster has pointy antennae that are as long as its body

Unlike most lobsters it does not have any claws

Labeled Caribbean Spiny Lobster

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster’s Habitat

They must live in water so they can molt.

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster is native to warm waters, so it generally resides in southern U.S or Caribbean Waters.

During the day these lobsters hide in the coral reefs for protection.

In the fall they migrate to deeper waters to avoid winter storms

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster’s Life Cycle

They migrate to deeper waters in the fall. Then the lobsters mate in the spring. The lobster eggs hatch in 6 to 8 weeks. It hatches into a phyllosoma larvae, which looks nothing like a

lobster. From this stage the lobster begin to molt and starts to look like a

lobster. Within 5 years the lobster will be 8 to 10 inches and it will

continue to molt for the rest of its life. When the lobster molts it must swallow large quantities of water

to make itself swell up and then the lobster sheds its exoskeleton. The lobster reaches its full size at 18 years old. The Spiny Caribbean lobster can be up to 2 ft. and 30 lbs.

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster’s Unique Characteristics

Every fall up to 60 lobsters march on the ocean bottom head to tail in a straight line for up to 30 miles for unknown reasons.

The spiny lobster is a social animal and they live together, but they shun sick lobsters so sickness does not spread.

They defend themselves with their extremely sharp and pointy antennae's, as well as use them to stab their prey.

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster’s Unique Characteristics

The Spiny lobster is the only invertebrate to have, “true navigation”, which is the ability to find their way home without any help from their senses.

They Have a magnetic sense almost like a compass that helps them find their way home in pitch black darkness

They rub the soft tissues of their antennae together to make noises.

Fishing the Caribbean Spiny Lobster

The Spiny Caribbean Lobster in one of the main Seafood dishes in Florida.

The meat in the tail has a very unique and delicious taste.

It is the main commercial fishery in Florida.

Sense they have no pinchers the Caribbean spiny lobsters are easily caught by scuba divers.

Recreational fishers alone harvest over 2 million a year.

For these reasons it is over harvested and conservation laws have been put in place stating that there is only a two day recreational fishing season for them, but this does not include commercial.

Bibliography

Davidson, Steve. "Lobster Lines." Ecos (2002). http://infotrac.galegroup.com. 25 Jan.-Feb. 2008. "Features Lobster." Research.Myfwc.Com. Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. 27 Feb. 2008

<http://research.myfwc.com/features>. Mayer, Peter. Nature Guide to the Carolina Coast. Wilmington: Avian-Cetacean P, 1991. O'keefe, Timothy M. "Florida Crawfish; Lobster DDiving Southern Stile." Skin Diver.

http://infotrac.galegroup.com. 24 Feb. 2008. Parker, Gregory, Keith Graham, Delores Shimmin, and George Thompson. Biology God's Living Creation.

Pensacola: Pensacola Christian College, 1997. Peterson, Christine. Invertebrates. Canada: Library of Congress, 2002. Rupert, Edward E., and Richard S. Fox. Seashore Animals of the Southeast. Columbia: University of South

Carolina P, 1988.