Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus
Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus. Lobster provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, February 2015. Length: 36 cm (14 inches).
Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus. Three lobsters caught in coastal waters off Bahía Santa Rosalillita, Baja California, September 2015. Catches and photo courtesy of Barry Mastro, Escondido, California.
Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus. Underwater photographs taken in coastal waters of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2018. Photographs courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
The Pinto Spiny Lobster, Panulirus inflatus (Bouvier, 1895), is a member of the Palinuridae Family of Spiny Lobsters, that is also known as the Blue Spiny Lobster and the Cortez Spiny Lobster and in Mexico as langosta azul and langosta pinta. The Pinto Spiny Lobster has a brown or bluish green shell with numerous short head spines tipped in orange. Their legs have orange stripes that run their length. The base of the tail is covered with randomly spaced small white spots. The carapace is sculpted with numerous sharp small non-prominent spines tipped in orange. Spiny Lobsters lack claws which have been replaced with first legs which function as walking legs. A key to identification is that the antennae plate has two pairs of main thorns with the distance between the rear pair is less than the length of the spines. There are three strong spines and two series of two to four small spines in the region adjacent to the eyes on the shell. They have two to five transverse grooves on the smooth abdominal somites that are not interrupted.
Pinto Spiny Lobsters reach a maximum length of 50 cm (20 inches) with shells up to 22 cm (8.7 inches). They are sexually dimorphic with males being larger than females. They are found epibenthic in rocky habitats with clear water at depths up to 76 m (250 feet). They hide within crevices in rocks and coral reefs during daylight hours and emerge as nighttime predators at dusk. They consume various types of invertebrate prey but have a marked preference for mollusks and are known to seasonally migrate to follow food sources. As defense mechanisms they can generate a loud sound and retreat backwards. Males can be distinguished from females by the position of two round genital openings (gonopores); in females the gonopores are at the base of the third pair of pereiopods and in males they are at the base of the fifth pair. Reproduction is gonochoric with three or four broods per year.
The Pinto Spiny Lobster co-occurs with the Green Spiny Lobster, Panulirus gracilis. They are exceedingly similar with similar ranges in Mexican waters of the Pacific but are found in much deeper waters.
Pinto Spiny Lobsters range from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, to the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, including the Tres Marias and Revillagigedos Islands. They are the most common species of spiny lobster in the Sea of Cortez, ranging from around Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja California, to the greater Cabo San Lucas area, Baja California Sur.
They are caught in abundance in lobster traps and sold commercially. Mexican catch levels of the Pinto and Green Spiny Lobsters, which are often confused, are on the order of 500 to 600 tons per annum being taken primarily by artisanal fishermen from December to June.
From a conservation perspective the Pinto Spiny Lobster is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They fished extensively by artisanal fishermen utilizing lobster traps from December to June as they are considered to be an excellent human food. Mexican catch levels of the Green and Pinto Spiny Lobsters, which are often confused, are on the order of 500 to 600 tons per annum being taken primarily by artisanal fishermen from December to June. They are heavily regulated in Mexico with restrictions on gear employed, fishing seasons, and size and bag limit restrictions.
Palinurus inflatus is a synonym for the Pinto Spiny Lobster.