Sealife guideThe Spanish slipper lobsterScyllarides aequinoctialis
Last updated on 10/27/2025 at 10:27 PM
Taxonomy
- Common name: Spanish slipper lobster
- French name: Cigale de mer marie-carogne, savate (Martinique)
- Spanish name: Cigarra español,langosta española,langostina
- Scientific name: Scyllarides aequinoctialis (Lund, 1793)
- Family name: Scyllaridae
- Order name: Decapoda
- Class name: Crustaceans [Malacostraca]
Description
The Spanish slipper lobster reaches about 12 inches in length when fully grown. The varied colors of its shell help it blend into its surroundings.
The Spanish slipper lobster (Scyllarides aequinoctialis)
Geographic range
The Spanish slipper lobster inhabits the tropical waters of the northwestern Atlantic ocean, from the southern coast of South Carolina and
Florida in the United States down to the state of São Paulo in Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the many islands of the Caribbean sea and Bermuda.
Habitat
The Spanish slipper lobster is generally found from the surface down to about 200 feet deep, but can sometimes occur as deep as 590 feet.
It lives on sandy or rocky sea floors, often around reefs. During the day, it buries itself in the sand or hides under ledges, in crevices, or in rock cavities to stay protected and out of sight.
Diet
The Spanish slipper lobster moves slowly and is mainly active at night, when it leaves its hiding place to hunt. It feeds primarily on benthic invertebrates such as
bivalves and
gastropods, as well as on organic remains and debris.
Did you know ?
According to a 2019 study, the Spanish slipper lobster produces sounds while swimming near the surface, a behavior well known and documented in spiny lobsters, but rarely observed in slipper lobsters.
The Spanish slipper lobster (Scyllarides aequinoctialis)
The spanish slipper lobster is listed as many other marine species within The
IUCN Red List of threatened species. The spanish slipper lobster appears in the
IUCN Red List since 2011 within the category Least Concern !
Within the same genus
Mediterranean slipper lobster
(Scyllarides latus)
Spanish lobster
(Scyllarides nodifer)
Within the same family
Regal slipper lobster
(Arctides regalis)
Sculptured slipper lobster
(Parribacus antarcticus)
Discover also
Bowed fiddler crab
(Uca arcuata)
California spiny lobster
(Panulirus interruptus)
European spiny lobster
(Palinurus elephas)
Feather star squat lobster
(Allogalathea elegans)
Indo-pacific ghost crab
(Ocypode ceratophthalmus)
Long arm prawn
(Heteropenaeus longimanus)
Mosaic boxer crab
(Lybia tessellata)
Pederson cleaner shrimp
(Ancylomenes pedersoni)
The marine species in the Caribbean
Atlantic tarpon
(Megalops atlanticus)
Banded cleaner shrimp
(Stenopus hispidus)
Doctorfish
(Acanthurus chirurgus)
Graysby
(Cephalopholis cruentata)
Green sea turtle
(Chelonia mydas)
Red cushion sea star
(Oreaster reticulatus)
Short bigeye
(Pristigenys alta)
Slender filefish
(Monacanthus tuckeri)
Dive centers
'Les Ilets' dive center
Noa dive center
