Panulirus interruptus Randall, 1840

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 129

Panulirus interruptus Randall, 1840

(Pl. 4D)

Panulirus interruptus Randall, 1840: 137 . — Stimpson 1857b: 491. — Rathbun 1904: 148.— Schmitt 1921: 108, fig. 73. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 315, fig. 268, 270. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 195, fig. 168. — Williams 1986b: 21, fig. 49, color fig. 79 h, i. — Holthuis 1991: 142, fig. 271.— Jensen 1995: 79, fig. 161. — Hendrickx 1995b: 155.

Diagnosis. Carapace subcylindrical, rostrum absent. Supraorbital teeth strong, eyes not set in orbits. Carapace with numerous teeth, cervical groove. Antennules slender, antennular peduncle slightly longer than antennal peduncle. Antennal flagellum as long as body, armed with spinules; peduncle heavy, spinulose. Pereopods 1–4 with setose, simple dactyls; female pereopod 5 with hooked dactyl, prominent overlapping hook on propodus. Abdominal somites with deep dorsal sulci separated along dorsal midline; abdominal pleura ending in sharp points. Telson rectangular, with tubercles, teeth toward proximal end; uropods as long as telson, similarly armed with tubercles, spinules. Total length to more than 60 cm.

Color in life. Dark green, reddish or brown, with two "eyepots" above base of first antennae; rarely albino. The color notes are from specimens from southern California.

Habitat and depth. Rocky tide pools at extreme low tide, among surf grass ( Phyllospadix sp. ), rocky reefs, breakwaters, and kelp beds; lowest intertidal zone to 70 m.

Range. San Luis Obispo County , California to Magdalena Bay , Baja California; along west coast of Gulf of California from Carmen I. to vicinity of Cape San Lucas, but rare north of Point Conception. Type locality " California.”

Remarks. The spiny lobster is primarily nocturnal, hiding in cracks and caves by day and emerging to feed by night. The adults are taken by hand by divers or in traps used by fishermen.