Caribbean+Spiny+Lobster


 * Phyla:** Arthropoda



__**Class:**__ Malacostraca


 * __Scientific Name:__** //Panulirus argus//

__**Location:**__ tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea,and the Gulf of Mexico


 * __Size:__** up to 60 cm


 * __Habitat:__** usually found in shallow waters (low tide to about 90 meters) and lives in coral reefs where it hides during the day in the crevices under ledges.

__**Living Requirements:**__ the diets consists of them feeding mostly on gastropods, chitons, bivalves, and carrion from the ocean floor. It is also feeds on sea urchins, worms, crustaceans, and some types of sea vegetation.


 * __Life Cycle:__** The Caibbean Spiny Lobster has a complex life cycle that is composed of four phases from pelagic larvae to benthic adult (planktonic phyllosome larvae, swimming postlarval pueruli, benthic juvenile, and adult).When the phyllosome larvae hatch, they appear to look like transparant spider-looking plankton. They molt 11 times for about a year before eventually becoming swimming postlarval pueruli. The swimming postalarval pueruli molt into benthic jueveniles and later on develop into adults.


 * __Male & female differences:__** Females' upper dorsal region of the tail is wider because it provides room to store premature eggs. Another way to tell the males and females apart is that the females have a soft set, thin set of pleopods (also known as swimmerets) and males have a hard, thicker set and smaller set of appendages attached to their swimmerets.


 * __Facts:__** The Caribbean Spiny Lobster can regrow any appendages that may have been lost during an attack. Unlike any other lobsters, the Spiny Lobster doesn't have claw but do have a hard protective shell referred to as their "armor" and they are also nocturnal creatures. This particular lobster is a very popular dish in the Cayman Islands which has resulted in the decline of their population in the about the last 30 years. There are actually Marine Conservation laws which has been placed to protect a number of species, including this lobster.





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 * Zookeeper: Shaiann Etwara**