{{short description|Genus of crustaceans}} {{Speciesbox | name = ''Palibythus magnificus'' | status = DD | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="IUCN">{{Cite iucn | author = A. MacDiarmid | title = ''Palibythus magnificus'' | article-number = e.T170033A6715102 | date = 2011 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T170033A6715102.en }}</ref> | parent_authority = Davie, 1990 <ref name="Davie">{{cite journal |title=A new genus and species of marine crayfish, ''Palibythus magnificus'', and new records of ''Palinurellus'' (Decapoda: Palinuridae) from the Pacific Ocean |author=P. J. F. Davie |journal=Invertebrate Taxonomy |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=685–695 |doi=10.1071/IT9900685 |year=1990|s2cid=16571724 }}</ref><ref>{{ITIS |id=553056 |taxon=''Palibythus'' Davie, 1990 |accessdate=August 22, 2011}}</ref> | taxon = Palibythus magnificus | authority = Davie, 1990 <ref name="Davie"/><ref>{{ITIS |id=553057 |taxon=''Palibythus magnificus'' Davie, 1990 |accessdate=August 22, 2011}}</ref> }}
'''''Palibythus magnificus''''', sometimes called the '''musical furry lobster''',<ref name="Samoa">{{cite web |url=http://www.mnre.gov.ws/biodiv/popup_Marine.cfm?RecordID=150 |title=Musical furry lobster (''Palibythus magnificus'') |publisher=Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Government of Samoa |access-date=February 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002105227/http://www.mnre.gov.ws/biodiv/popup_Marine.cfm?RecordID=150 |archive-date=October 2, 2011 }}</ref> is a species of furry lobster found in Polynesia. It is generally included in the family Palinuridae, although it has also been separated from that family with the genus ''Palinurellus'' to form the family Synaxidae in the past.<ref name="Holthuis">{{cite book |chapter-url=ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/t0411e/T0411E26.pdf |chapter=Synaxidae |title=FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 13. Marine Lobsters of the World |author=Lipke Holthuis |author-link=Lipke Holthuis |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |year=1990 |isbn=978-92-5-103027-1 |page=167 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Online version: [http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=206 ''Palibythus magnificus''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608011727/http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=206 |date=2011-06-08 }}</ref> The species is known in Samoan as ''{{lang|sm|ula moana}}'',<ref name="Samoa"/> a name which also covers the deep-water shrimp ''Heterocarpus laevigatus''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mnre.gov.ws/biodiv/popup_Marine.cfm?RecordID=83 |title=Deep water shrimps (''Heterocaprus laevigatus'') [''sic''] |publisher=Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Government of Samoa |access-date=February 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002105255/http://www.mnre.gov.ws/biodiv/popup_Marine.cfm?RecordID=83 |archive-date=October 2, 2011 }}</ref>
==Distribution== ''Palibythus'' is only known to occur around Samoa and the Tuamotu Archipelago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sealifebase.org/Country/CountryList.php?ID=15106&GenusName=Palibythus&SpeciesName=magnificus |title=Countries where ''Palibythus magnificus'' is found |publisher=SeaLifeBase |access-date=February 18, 2009}}</ref> It lives at greater depth than ''Palinurellus'' – from {{cvt|90|to(-)|300|m|ft}} – and is slightly larger, at up to {{cvt|27|cm|in|0}} in length.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://smdec.com/keyfao/LOBSTERS/data/60503.pdf |title=Synaxidae |pages=1001–1004 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> All the specimens held in natural history museums stem from the waters of Samoa, with only photos so far known of an animal from the Tuamotu Archipelago that is "almost definitely this species".<ref name="Davie"/>
==Sound== Like other spiny lobsters (with the exception of the genera ''Jasus'' and ''Projasus''), ''Palibythus'' is capable of making a loud screeching noise to distract or discourage potential predators. This is achieved by rubbing plectra at the base of the antennae against elongated "files" on the sides of the antennular plate.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=S. N. Patek |author2=T. H. Oakley |name-list-style=amp |year=2003 |journal=Evolution |volume=57 |issue=9 |pages=2082–2100 |title=Comparative tests of evolutionary trade-offs in a palinurid lobster acoustic system |doi=10.1554/02-608 |pmid=14575329 |jstor=3448881 |s2cid=198153660 }}</ref>
==Relatives== ''Palibythus'' was originally placed with ''Palinurellus'' in the family Synaxidae, on the basis that both genera possess a triangular rostrum which is absent in the other genera of spiny lobsters, and that both genera lack the supra-orbital horns found in the other spiny lobster genera.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tethys origin and subsequent radiation of the spiny lobsters (Palinuridae) |author=R. W. George |journal=Crustaceana |volume=79 |issue=4 |year=2006 |pages=397–422 |doi=10.1163/156854006777554848 |author-link=Ray W. George}}</ref> Despite this, however, the two genera of furry lobsters are not sister taxa. The genera most closely related to ''Palibythus'' are ''Panulirus'' and ''Palinurus'', while ''Palinurellus'' is closest to ''Jasus'' and ''Projasus'', two other genera which lack the stridulating organ.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Phylogenetic relationships between spiny, slipper and coral lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Achelata) |author1=Ferran Palero |author2=Keith A. Crandall|author-link2=Keith A. Crandall |author3=Pere Abelló |author4=Enrique Macpherson |author5=Marta Pascual |name-list-style=amp |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=50 |issue=1 |year=2009 |pages=152–162 |pmid=18957325 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.10.003}}</ref>
==Fishery== Although ''Palibythus'' is a large enough lobster to provide food for human consumption, its rarity, and the depths at which it lives, seem to preclude any commercial fishery.<ref name="Holthuis"/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Wikispecies-inline|Palibythus|''Palibythus''}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q16897298|from2=Q5501293}}
Category:Spiny lobsters Category:Monotypic decapod genera Category:Crustaceans of the Pacific Ocean Category:Fauna of Samoa Category:Crustaceans described in 1990