(Bate, 1888)
Diagnosis:
Postorbital spine absent. Three or more teeth between the frontal horns and the cervical groove. Median keel of carapace with 3 post-cervical and 2 intestinal teeth. Tubercles of carapace usually distinct and not obscured by the pubescence. Eyes small, longer than broad. Fifth pereiopod of male not chelate.
Type:
Type locality of P. angulatus: "Challenger" Station 219, "lat. 1°54'S. long. 146°39'40"E; Eastern (read: Western] Pacific, north of New Guinea; depth, 150 fathoms (= 274 m]; bottom, coral mud". Holotype male in BM, no. 88.22 (in alcohol, condition fair).
Type locality of Puerulus gracilis: "off Kominato, Prov. Bôsyû [Honshu, Japan] at depth of about 170 fathoms [ = 310 m]". Depository of types unknown.
Geographical Distribution:
Indo-West Pacific region, from the east and south-east coast of Africa (Zanzibar, Mozambique, Natal) and the western Indian Ocean, to Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and Western Australia.
Habitat and Biology:
Depth range from 274 to 536 m, on soft substrates (mud or sand).
Size:
Maximum carapace length is 7.3 cm corresponding to a total body length of about 21 cm.
Interest to Fisheries:
At present the species is accidentally caught by fishermen, as is the case for the type of Puerulus gracilis, which was taken in a gill net ("naname-ami") intended for flatfishes; specimens from Natal and Mozambique were taken by commercial trawlers, but in very small numbers. Crosnier and Jouannic (1973: 13) report that experimental fishing near Madagascar produced only very few specimens. George (1983: 16) observed that off Port Hedland, Western Australia, "the commercial prospects [of 4 species of Metanephrops and of] the whip lobster Puerulus angulatus are probably the most encouraging". Experimental fishing with different types of gear, and better knowledge of habitat and biology of this species are required in order to assess its real potential as a fisheries resource.