The commercial lobster of the region, in crevices by day with only the antennae showing. It migrates in single file queues of dozens across open sand in autumn.
To about 60 cm total length, typically 20. Olive-green to brown with forward-pointing horns above the eyestalks, yellowish spots on the carapace, larger well-separated spots on the abdomen, and antennae longer than the body.
The spotted spiny lobster is covered in fine white spots including on the legs, where this one has a few large spots on the abdomen.
To a hundred metres on reef, in sponge and among mangrove roots. Nocturnal. In autumn hundreds queue nose to tail and march single-file across open bottom, which is one of the few genuinely famous invertebrate spectacles in the Caribbean.
Listed as Data Deficient. It is the most important food export of the Bahamas, and Florida closes the season from April to July.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
