Pink Spiny Lobster

The pink spiny lobster differs from Palinurus elephas, by its first pair of pereiopods (walking legs) that are as slender as its other pereiopods. The carapace shows two conspicuous, longitudinal rows of forward-directed spines. The peduncle, the base segment of the antenna, is particularly stout. The pink spiny lobster may attain an age of at least 21 years.

It is distributed from south-western Ireland southwards throughout the western Mediterranean Sea (as far east as to Sicily, but not in the Adriatic Sea) and along the West African coast to Senegal. Palinurus mauritanicus and Palinurus elephas, are the only species of the family Palinuridae that occur both in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is found on muddy or rocky bottoms at the edge of the continental shelf, but, off Europe in waters deeper than 200 m. Its greatest numbers occur at depths of between 200 and 400 metres (660 and 1,310 ft). The males seem more abundant at depths above 250 m while females and juveniles are found at greater depths.

Palinurus mauritanicus lives as a scavenger from dead fish, but also hunts live molluscs, other crustaceans, polychaetes and echinoderms.

Palinurus mauritanicus has been less the preferred target of lobster fisheries because of its relative scarcity, due to its deeper distribution. Its main fishing range is in the eastern central Atlantic off Mauritania. Its high unit value has led to depletion in the eastern central Atlantic.