Marine Species Identification Portal : Ridged slipper lobster

(Stimpson, 1866)

Diagnosis:
Tuberculation of carapace and abdomen coarse. Carpus of first pereiopod with a large swollen hump in the upper basal part; a very shallow groove extends over this hump. Legs, even in specimens preserved for long time in alcohol, with conspicuous sharply delimited red bands on propodus, merus and carpus.
First abdominal somite with three distinct red spots. Abdominal somites 2 to 4 with a very distinct broad elevated median carina, which is sharply set off from the rest of the surface. Outline of the posterior margin of the pleura of the second abdominal somite concave in the middle through the presence of a strong tooth.

Type:
Type locality of S. nodifer: "Found among the Florida Keys ... at the Tortugas ... and .. from Key West". Syntypes in USNM and MCZ, now probably lost.
Type locality of S. americanus: "Bermuda". Lectotype male (coll. by T.H. Bean) in USNM, no. 21607.

Geographical Distribution:
Western Atlantic region: Bermuda and coast of USA south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, entire Gulf of Mexico (Florida to Yucatan).

Habitat and Biology:
Known from depths between 2 and 91 m on a sandy substrate, sometimes mixed with mud, shells or corals.

Size:
Total body length to about 35 cm; carapace length to 11 cm.

Interest to Fisheries:
Minor. There is no special fishery for the species, but if taken it is used as food or bait. It is mostly obtained in traps set for other species. Marketed fresh.

Ridged slipper lobster (Scyllarides nodifer)