{{Short description|Family of crustaceans}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|100|0|earliest=120}} | name = Slipper lobsters | image = Scyllarides latus.jpg | image_caption = ''Scyllarides latus'' | taxon = Scyllaridae | authority = Latreille, 1825 <ref>{{ITIS |id=97660 |taxon=Scyllaridae Latreille, 1825 |access-date=October 21, 2011}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies <ref name="WoRMS"/> | subdivision = * Arctidinae * Ibacinae * Scyllarinae * Theninae }}
'''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.
==Description== Slipper lobsters have six segments in their heads and eight segments in the thorax, which are collectively covered in a thick carapace. The six segments of the abdomen each bear a pair of pleopods, while the thoracic appendages are either walking legs or maxillipeds. The head segments bear various mouthparts and two pairs of antennae. The first antennae, or ''antennules'', are held on a long flexible stalk, and are used for sensing the environment. The second antennae are the slipper lobsters' most conspicuous feature, as they are expanded and flattened into large plates that extend horizontally forward from the animal's head.<ref name="Kavalli"/>
There is considerable variation in size among species of slipper lobsters. The Mediterranean species ''Scyllarus pygmaeus'' is the smallest, growing to a maximum total length of {{convert|55|mm}}, and rarely more than {{convert|40|mm|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=203 |chapter=''Scyllarus pygmaeus'' |series=FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 |title=Marine Lobsters of the World |author=Lipke B. Holthuis |author-link=Lipke Holthuis |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |year=1991 |isbn=92-5-103027-8 |pages=224–225 |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2011-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607223518/http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=203 |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest species, ''Scyllarides haanii'', may reach {{convert|50|cm}} long.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=179 |chapter=''Scyllarides haanii'' |series=FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 |title=Marine Lobsters of the World |author=Lipke B. Holthuis |author-link=Lipke Holthuis |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |year=1991 |isbn=92-5-103027-8 |page=189 |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2011-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607223533/http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=179 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Ecology== Slipper lobsters are typically bottom dwellers of the continental shelves, found at depths of up to {{convert|500|m}}.<ref name="AFD">{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/SCYLLARIDAE |work=Australian Faunal Directory |publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts |date=January 8, 2010 |title=Family SCYLLARIDAE Latreille, 1825 |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924052307/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/SCYLLARIDAE |url-status=live }}</ref> Slipper lobsters eat a variety of molluscs, including limpets, mussels and oysters,<ref name="Spanier">{{cite journal |title=Natural history of ''Scyllarides latus'' (Crustacea: Decapoda): a review of the contemporary biological knowledge of the Mediterranean slipper lobster |author1=E. Spanier |author2=K. L. Lavalli |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.1080/00222939800771281 |journal=Journal of Natural History |volume=32 |issue=10 & 11 |year=1998 |pages=1769–1786|bibcode=1998JNatH..32.1769S }}</ref> as well as crustaceans, polychaetes and echinoderms.<ref>{{cite journal |author=D. Miner |author2=G. Allinson |author3=S. Salzman|author4=M. Nishikawa |author5=N. Turoczy |name-list-style=amp |title=Trace metal concentrations in the Balmain bug (''Ibacus peronii'' Leach, 1815) from southwest Victoria, Australia |journal=Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology |volume=76 |issue=6 |year=2006 |doi=10.1007/s00128-006-1018-7 |pages=1007–1013 |pmid=16855908|bibcode=2006BuECT..76.1007M |s2cid=12826038 }}</ref> They grow slowly and live to a considerable age. They lack the giant neurones which allow other decapod crustaceans to perform tailflips, and must rely on other means to escape predator attack, such as burial in a substrate and reliance on the heavily armoured exoskeleton.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/4134545 |author=Sandra Y. Espinoza |author2=Lana Breen |author3=Nisha Varghese |author4=Zen Faulkes |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Loss of escape-related giant neurons in a spiny lobster, ''Panulirus argus'' |journal=Biological Bulletin |volume=211 |issue=3 |pages=223–231 |url=http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/content/abstract/211/3/223 |jstor=4134545 |pmid=17179382 |s2cid=6685525 |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2011-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616185949/http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/content/abstract/211/3/223 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
The most significant predators of slipper lobsters are bony fish, with the grey triggerfish being the most significant predator of ''Scyllarides latus'' in the Mediterranean Sea.<ref name="Spanier"/>
==Life cycle== thumb|A pair of slipper lobster (''Scyllaridae'') larvae|left
After hatching out of their eggs, young slipper lobsters pass through around ten instars as phyllosoma larvae — leaf-like, planktonic zoeae.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Oceanography |volume=61 |pages=389–398 |year=2005 |title=Distribution of scyllarid phyllosoma larvae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Scyllaridae) in the Kuroshio Subgyre |author1=Nariaki Inoue |author2=Hideo Sekiguchi |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.1007/s10872-005-0049-8 |issue=3|bibcode=2005JOce...61..389I |s2cid=55564480 }}</ref> These ten or so stages last the greater part of a year, after which the larva moults into a "nisto" stage that lasts a few weeks. Almost nothing is known about the transition from this stage to the adults, which continue to grow through a series of moults.<ref name="Kavalli">{{cite book |editor1=Kari L. Lavalli |editor2=Ehud Spanier |series=Crustacean Issues |volume=17 |title=The Biology and Fisheries of the Slipper Lobster |publisher=CRC Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8493-3398-9 |pages=3–24 |author1=Kari L. Lavalli |author2=Ehud Spanier |name-list-style=amp |chapter=Introduction to the biology and fisheries of slipper lobsters}}</ref>
==Commercial importance== thumb|right|Global production of slipper lobsters from 1957 to 2007 Although they are fished for wherever they are found, slipper lobsters have not been the subject of such intense fishery as spiny lobsters or true lobsters.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Kari L. Lavalli |editor2=Ehud Spanier |series=Crustacean Issues |volume=17 |title=The Biology and Fisheries of the Slipper Lobster |publisher=CRC Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8493-3398-9 |chapter=Directions for future research in slipper lobster biology |author1=Ehud Spanier |author2=Kari L. Lavalli |name-list-style=amp |pages=221–228}}</ref> The methods used for catching slipper lobsters vary depending on the species' ecology. Those that prefer soft substrates, such as ''Thenus'' and ''Ibacus'', are often caught by trawling, while those that prefer crevices, caves and reefs (including ''Scyllarides'', ''Arctides'' and ''Parribacus'' species) are usually caught by scuba divers.<ref name="AFD"/>
The global catch of slipper lobsters was reported in 1991 to be {{convert|2100|t}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php |series=FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 |title=Marine Lobsters of the World |author=Lipke B. Holthuis |author-link=Lipke Holthuis |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |year=1991 |isbn=92-5-103027-8 |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2010-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123070145/http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php |url-status=live }}</ref> More recently, annual production has been around {{convert|5000|t}}, the majority of which is production of ''Thenus orientalis'' in Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/global-production/en |title=Global Production |work=Fishery Statistics programme |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116221234/http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/global-production/en |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Common names== A number of common names have been applied to the family Scyllaridae. The most common of these is "slipper lobster",<ref name="WoRMS">{{cite web |author1=Gary Poore |author2=Michael Türkay |name-list-style=amp |date=February 24, 2009 |title=Scyllaridae |publisher=World Register of Marine Species |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=106795 |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-date=October 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012202701/http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=106795 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="AFD"/> followed by "shovel-nosed lobster"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marine.csiro.au/caabsearch/caab_search.caab_report?spcode=28821000 |title=Taxon Report: Scyllaridae |publisher=Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |author=Karen Gowlett-Holmes |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-date=August 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815102055/http://www.marine.csiro.au/caabsearch/caab_search.caab_report?spcode=28821000 |url-status=live }}</ref> and "locust lobster". "Spanish lobster" is used for members of the genus ''Arctides'',<ref>{{ITIS |id=552993 |taxon=''Arctides'' Holthuis, 1960 |access-date=October 21, 2011}}</ref> "mitten lobster" for ''Parribacus'',<ref>{{ITIS |id=97681 |taxon=''Parribacus'' Dana, 1852 |access-date=October 21, 2011}}</ref> and "fan lobster" for ''Evibacus''<ref>{{ITIS |id=552994 |taxon=''Evibacus'' Smith, 1869 |access-date=October 21, 2011}}</ref> and ''Ibacus''.<ref>{{ITIS |id=552995 |taxon=''Ibacus'' Leach, 1815 |access-date=October 21, 2011}}</ref> In Australia, a number of species are called "bugs", for example, the Balmain bug (''Ibacus peronii'') and the Moreton Bay bug (''Thenus orientalis'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/fish-species/species-list/balmain-bug |title=Balmain Bug |publisher=New South Wales Department of Primary Industries |access-date=September 28, 2025 }}</ref> Other names used in Australia include "bay lobster", "blind lobster", "flapjack", "flat lobster", "flying saucer", "gulf lobster", "mudbug", "sandbug", "shovel-nose bug", "shovelnose lobster", "crayfish", "slipper bug" and "squagga".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fishnames.com.au/fishnames/fishnames.php?pid=64 |title=Fish names: Balmain bug |publisher=Seafood Services Australia |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-date=September 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913173242/http://www.fishnames.com.au/fishnames/fishnames.php?pid=64 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rarer terms include "flathead lobster" (for ''Thenus orientalis'')<ref>{{ITIS |id=553055 |taxon=''Thenus orientalis'' (Lund, 1793) |access-date=October 21, 2011}}</ref> and "bulldozer lobster".<ref name="Haug">{{cite journal |journal=Palaeodiversity |volume=2 |pages=97–110 |year=2009 |title=Development in Mesozoic scyllarids and implications for the evolution of Achelata (Reptantia, Decapoda, Crustacea) |author=Joachim T. Haug |author2=Carolin Haug |author3=Dieter Waloszek |author4=Andreas Maas |author5=Matthias Wulf |author6=Günter Schweigert |name-list-style=amp |url=http://www.palaeodiversity.org/pdf/02/Pal_2_04_097-110_gu_4c.pdf |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2021-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309121401/http://www.palaeodiversity.org/pdf/02/Pal_2_04_097-110_gu_4c.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In Greece they may be known as Kolochtypes which roughly translates as 'bum hitter'. Twenty-two genera are recognised,<ref name="Grave">{{cite journal |journal=Raffles Bulletin of Zoology |year=2009 |volume=Suppl. 21 |pages=1–109 |title=A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans |author1=Sammy De Grave |author2=N. Dean Pentcheff |author3=Shane T. Ahyong |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |display-authors=etal |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2011-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606064728/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> the majority of which were erected in 2002 by Lipke Holthuis for species formerly classified under ''Scyllarus'':<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lipke Holthuis |author-link=Lipke Holthuis |year=2002 |title=The Indo-Pacific scyllarine lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Scyllaridae) |journal=Zoosystema |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=499–683 |url=http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/zoosyst/z02n3a1a.pdf |access-date=2010-01-21 |archive-date=2012-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222001801/http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/zoosyst/z02n3a1a.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[File:Pariibacus japonicus.jpg|thumb|''Parribacus japonicus'']] [[File:Scyllarus arctus 2 by Line1.jpg|thumb|''Scyllarus arctus'']]
==Genera== Slipper lobsters belong to the following genera.
{{col-begin|width=60em}} {{col-break}} '''Scyllarinae <small>Latreille, 1825</small>''' *''Acantharctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Antarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Antipodarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Bathyarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Biarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Chelarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Crenarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Eduarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Galearctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Gibbularctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Petrarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Remiarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Scammarctus'' <small>Holthuis, 2002</small> *''Scyllarella'' <small>Rathbun, 1935</small> (extinct) *''Scyllarus'' <small>Fabricius, 1775</small> {{col-break}} '''Arctidinae <small>Holthuis, 1985</small>''' *''Arctides'' <small>Holthuis, 1960</small> *''Scyllarides'' <small>Gill, 1898</small>
'''Ibacinae <small>Holthuis, 1985</small>''' *''Evibacus'' <small>S. I. Smith, 1869</small> *''Ibacus'' <small>Leach, 1815</small> *''Palibacus'' <small>Förster, 1984</small> (extinct) *''Parribacus'' <small>Dana, 1852</small>
'''Theninae <small>Holthuis, 1985</small>''' *''Thenus'' <small>Leach, 1815</small>
{{col-end}}
==Gallery== Gallery of various slipper lobsters species:
<gallery style="text-align:center;" mode="packed"> Image:Arctides antipodum.jpg|''Arctides antipodum'' Image:Ibacus ciliatus - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo - DSC07560.JPG|''Ibacus ciliatus'' Image:Parribacus-antarcticus2-National-Zoo-2010.jpg|''Parribacus antarcticus'' Image:Cooked whole Moreton Bay Bug.JPG|''Thenus orientalis'' (cooked) </gallery>
==Fossil record== The fossil record of slipper lobsters extends back 100–120 million years, which is considerably less than that of slipper lobsters' closest relatives, the spiny lobsters. One significant earlier fossil is ''Cancrinos claviger'', which was described from Upper Jurassic sediments at least {{Ma|142}}, and may represent either an ancestor of modern slipper lobsters,<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Kari L. Lavalli |editor2=Ehud Spanier |series=Crustacean Issues |volume=17 |title=The Biology and Fisheries of the Slipper Lobster |publisher=CRC Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8493-3398-9 |pages=25–52 |author1=W. Richard Webber |author2=John D. Booth |name-list-style=amp |chapter=Taxonomy and evolution}}</ref> or the sister group to the family Scyllaridae ''sensu stricto''.<ref name="Haug"/>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|title=The biology and fisheries of the slipper lobster|year=2007|publisher=CRC/Taylor & Francis|location=Boca Raton (Fla.)|doi=10.1201/9781420005165|isbn=9780849333989|editor=Kari L. Lavalli|display-editors=etal}}
==External links== {{Portal|Crustaceans}} *{{Wikispecies-inline|Scyllaridae}} *{{Commons category-inline|Scyllaridae}}
{{Decapoda}} {{Edible crustaceans}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1019149}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Achelata Category:Edible crustaceans Category:Commercial crustaceans Category:Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances Category:Slipper lobsters Category:Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille