Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langoustes, or rock lobsters are marine decapod crustaceans belonging to the family Palinuridae. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the Bahamas, called crayfish, sea crayfish, or crawfish ("kreef" in South Africa), terms which elsewhere are reserved for freshwater crayfish.
The phyllosoma is the larval stage of spiny and slipper lobster (Palinuridae and Scyllaridae), and represents one of the most significant characteristics that unify them into the taxon Achelata. Its body is remarkably thin, flat, and transparent, with long legs.
The phyllosoma larva of spiny lobsters has a long planktonic life before metamorphosing into the puerulus stage, which is the transitional stage from planktonic to a benthic existence. Despite the importance of larval survival to predict recruitment, not much is known about the biology of phyllosoma larvae. In many cases even natural diet is still unclear.
Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. The larvae of crustaceans often bear little resemblance to the adult, and there are still cases where it is not known what larvae will grow into what adults. This is especially true of crustaceans which live as benthic adults (on the sea bed), more-so than where the larvae are planktonic, and thereby easily caught.
Many crustacean larvae were not immediately recognised as larvae when they were discovered, and were described as new genera and species. The names of these genera have become generalised to cover specific larval stages across wide groups of crustaceans, such as zoea and nauplius. Other terms described forms which are only found in particular groups, such as the glaucothoe of hermit crabs, or the phyllosoma of slipper lobsters and spiny lobsters.
San Juan Bautista is the main town on Robinson Crusoe Island, part of the Juan Fernández Islands, Valparaíso Province, Chile, and is the primary human settlement within the island chain. Some sources say the town was founded in 1877, while others give an earlier date of 1750. It is located at Cumberland Bay, on the central northeastern coast. Ship Logs from American whalers report transporting prospective colonists and their baggage to the Island on June 19th, 1844.
Although the community maintains a "rustic" serenity, and is largely dependent on the spiny lobster trade, residents do use vehicles, maintain a satellite internet connection, and own television sets. At the 2012 census, the town had a population of 800 people, living in an area of 0.31 km (0.12 sq mi).
Malacostraca is the second largest of the six classes of pancrustaceans behind insects, containing about 40,000 living species, divided among 16 orders. Its members, the malacostracans, display a great diversity of body forms and include crabs, lobsters, spiny lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, prawns, isopods, amphipods, mantis shrimp, and many other less familiar animals. They are abundant in all marine environments and have colonised freshwater and terrestrial habitats. They are segmented animals, united by a common body plan comprising 20 body segments (rarely 21), and divided into a head, thorax, and abdomen.
Slipper lobsters are a family (Scyllaridae) of about 90 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda clade Reptantia, found in all warm oceans and seas. They are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lobsters. Slipper lobsters are instantly recognisable by their enlarged antennae, which project forward from the head as wide plates. All the species of slipper lobsters are edible, and some, such as the Moreton Bay bug and the Balmain bug (Ibacus peronii) are of commercial importance.