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| Spiny lobsters | |
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| Panulirus interruptus | |
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| Family: | Palinuridae Latreille, 1802 |
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Spiny lobsters, also known as rock lobsters are a family (Palinuridae) of about 45 species of crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also called crayfish, sea crayfish or crawfish.
Although they superficially resemble true lobsters in terms of overall shape, and that they also have a hard carapace and exoskeleton, the two groups are not closely related. Spiny lobsters can be easily distinguished from true lobsters by their very long, thick, spiny antennae, and by their complete lack of claws (chelae); true lobsters have much smaller antennae and claws on the first three pairs of legs, with the first being particularly enlarged. Like true lobsters, however, spiny lobsters are edible and are an economically significant food source; they are the biggest food export of the Bahamas .
Spiny lobsters are found in almost all warm seas, including the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea, but are particularly common in Australasia, where they are referred to commonly as crayfish or sea crayfish (Jasus novaehollandiae and Jasus edwardsii), and South Africa (Jasus lalandii). A new species, Palinurus barbarae was described in 2006.
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