Florida Lobster
The Florida spiny lobster (Panulirus Argus) is a species of spiny lobster that lives on reefs and in mangrove swamps in the western Atlantic Ocean. Outside of Florida, it is known as the Caribbean spiny lobster or West Indies spiny lobster and is also referred to as lagostino, crawfish, crayfish or "bug." They have long, cylindrical bodies covered with spines and two large spines form forward-pointing horns right above each eyestalk. Although they superficially resemble true lobsters in terms of overall shape, and having a hard carapace and exoskeleton, the two groups are not closely related and unlike the northern lobster, they have no claws. They may reach up to 24 inches long, but typically around 8 inches, and it is fished throughout its range. It takes a spiny lobster about two years to grow to the three-inch carapace legal-harvesting size and they can grow as large as 15 pounds. The largest spiny lobster on record was over 3 feet long and weighed over 26 lb. The lobster feeds primarily on snails, slugs, mollusks, and carrion from the ocean floor. It is also known to feed on sea urchins, worms, crabs, crayfish, shrimp, krill, barnacles, and some types of sea vegetation. It is preyed upon by many species such as moray eels, grouper, sharks, loggerhead turtles, and octopus.
They are found at depths of up to 300 feet from Brazil to North Carolina, including the entire Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas, Bermuda, eastern South America with occasional reports from West Africa. Although they range throughout the entire Gulf of Mexico, in the northern portions of the Gulf they generally are only found at depths of 100 feet and greater due to the seasonal variation in the water temperature. Around the southern portion of the Florida peninsula and throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean, they are found in shallower water. They generally prefer habitat with some sort of cover and can be found around coral reefs, artificial reefs, sponges, bridge pilings, wooden bridge bumpers, piers, and under the prop roots of mangroves.
It is the number one food export of the Bahamas, and rivals the shrimp industry in the Florida Keys in commercial value. They are eagerly sought by both commercial lobstermen and sport divers in South Florida, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas. In Florida, Lobster Season runs from August 6 through March 6. A special sport diver season, a few days before the start of the regular lobster season gives recreational divers a head start in catching them. Divers catch them by gloved hand, often tickling them out of their dens with a dowel or small stick. In the Bahamas and Caribbean, they are often also speared or gigged (Florida game regulations prohibit taking them by these methods). Commercially, they are caught with lobster traps similar to those used by lobster fishermen in New England. The traps are usually baited with dead fish or chicken necks.
The Spiny Lobster mates between March and June using external fertilization for reproduction; spawning occurs from April through October. One female lobster can release upward of 300,000 eggs. After the eggs are released, the first nine months of the lobster’s life is spent drifting around as tiny oceanic plankton. As it gets big enough to grab bottom, it makes its home wherever it happens to be. Biologists have documented millions of these small larval lobsters passing through the bridges that separate the Atlantic from the Gulf in the Keys. From there they start their way north into other parts of the state.
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