(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.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Suborder Macrura Reptantia
Superfamily Palinuroidea
Family Palinuridae
Genus Puerulus
Species Puerulus angulatus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Puerulus angulatus (Bate, 1888)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Puerulus angulatus (Bate, 1888)

Synonyms:
Panulirus angulatus Bate, 1888, Report Voyage Challenger, Zool., 24: 81, pl. 11 figs 2-4. Name placed on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology, in Opinion 519 (published in 1958).
Puer angulatus Ortmann, 1891
Puerulus gracilis Kubo, 1939

FAO Names:
Banded whip lobster

Local Names:
AUSTRALIA: Whip lobster
JAPAN: Gusoku-ebi
MOZAMBIQUE: Lagosta listrada

Bate, C.S., 1888 Report on the Crustacea Macrura collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76. Report scientific Results Voyage Challenger, (Zool), 24: i-xc, 1-942, text figs. 1-76, pls 1-150.

Crosnier, A. and C. Jouannic, 1973. Note d'information sur les prospections de la pente continentale malgache effectuées par le N.O. Vauban. Bathymétrie - Sédimentologie - Pêche au chalut. Documents scientifiques Centre Nosy-Bé ORSTOM, 42:1-18, pls 1-4,1 unnumbered plate

George, R.W., 1983. New finds of deepwater "Lobsters" on the Northwest shelf. Fins, Fishery News Western Australia, 16(1):16-20, 5 figs

Holthuis, L.B., 1966. On spiny lobsters of the genera Palinurellus, Linuparus and Puerulus (Crustacea Decapoda, Palinuridae). Proceedings Symposium Crustacea Ernakulam, India, 1:260-278

You can continue searching for Puerulus angulatus on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia