(Latreille, 1817)
Diagnosis:
Antennular plate with 4 spines. Third maxilliped without exopod. Abdominal somites smooth, without transverse groove.
Colour: abdominal somites 1 to 6 without transverse whitish bands. Line of very small spots along posterior margin of abdominal somites, rest of upper surface of abdomen not spotted. Pleura and hard part of tail fan with numerous very distinct spots in addition to larger eye spot near base of pleura. Frontal horns spotted.
Type:
Type locality: "M. Delalande fils l'a trouvé sur les côtes du Bresil": Pierre Antoine Delalande (1787-1828) arrived from France in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 1 June 1816, "He returned to France after a short voyage through the Province of Rio de Janeiro, carrying the collections obtained" (Papavero, 1971, pp. 115, 116). The type locality thus may be restricted to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Type material in MP; no longer extant in 1989.
Geographical Distribution:
Western Atlantic: Bermuda and Florida to E. Brazil, including Yucatan and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat and Biology:
Coastal waters, down to 50 m depth; substrate: rock or coral.
Size:
Maximum total body length about 31 cm, common to 20 cm.
Interest to Fisheries:
The species is caught throughout its range, but there is no special commercial fishery for it. Sometimes it is taken together with Panulirus argus. The yield of its fishery seems to be largest in Brazil.