Is There Lobster in the Gulf of Mexico? A Deep Dive into the Crustaceans of the Gulf

There are many kinds of lobsters that live in the warm and cool waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic. Lobsters are fun to catch and equally fun to eat!.

In Florida, they are commonly called “Bugs” and when you go lobstering, you are “Bug Hunting”.

There are a lot of Caribbean spiny lobsters. They don’t have front claws like Maine lobsters, which is how they got their name. Spiny lobsters don’t have claws to protect themselves, but they make up for it in speed—they can quickly move backwards to avoid being caught, which makes them hard to catch once they’re moving. Lobsters walk on their many legs forward and swim backwards using their tail to propel them.

The spiny lobster, like most lobster species, comes out at night to eat crabs, shellfish, mussels, worms, sea urchins, and sand dollars. During the day, it hides and sleeps. Many people say the Maine lobster tastes better, but others say a fresh grilled spiny lobster is just as good. Lobsters in the warm southern waters mate from March to July, which is the only time they can be caught. To mate, they move from deep reefs to the shore. The female carries fertilized eggs on their abdomen for 3 weeks until they hatch.

The Caribbean spiny lobster is the most common lobster found in Florida. The legal size with a 3″ carapace is about 1 pound or 10″ in length. The spiney can get as long as 23 inches and weigh as much as 12 pounds. You can find these huge bugs in central to north Florida. You can identify a spiny by its brown & gray striped body with yellow spots on its tail. In the Keys, lobsters average 1 pound. They get bigger as you go north in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico; most of them are 1 1/2 pounds or more. The further north you go, the bigger they get but harder to find.

It is Illegal to harvest a female with eggs, all species of Lobsters are included in this regulation. In the picture above, you can see the red eggs under the tail. The female will hold them with her tiny fin-like scales. Once you catch a lobster, the first thing you should do is look for eggs. If you find any, carefully set the lobster free so she can have babies and add to the population.

WARNING: Never remove the eggs from a female and assume you can keep her if shes legal size. You will never get all the eggs off and officers inspecting your catch always look for egg remnants. Fines are huge – its just not worth trying to cheat and its unethical.

The following types of lobster can be found in Florida waters. They are not regulated, so you can keep what you find at any time of the year as long as it is not a female laying eggs. Any Lobster species cannot be caught with spears, hooks, wire snares, or anything else that could puncture, penetrate, or crush the shell. It is illegal to bring in more than 100 pounds of fish or two fish per person per day for species that don’t have set bag limits. You must have a SPL license to fish in commercial quantities.

Did You Know? Deep water lobsters shells have a reddish tint and shallow water a greenish tint.

To get a saltwater products license (SPL), you must catch more than the recreational bag limit of species with set bag limits or more than 100 pounds or two fish per person per day (whichever is greater) of species that do not have set bag limits. You also need an SPL to sell saltwater products you’ve caught or to use certain gear (ss). 379. 361, F. S. & Chapter 68B, F. A. C. ).

There are several areas in Florida where Spanish & Slipper Lobster harvesting is Prohibited, see section below.

Locally refered to as the Spanish Lobster, the Spotted Lobster prefers shallow waters in rocky areas. The spotted tail lobster lives in Southeast Florida all the way to The Keys. It is thought that currents from the Caribbean brought it there. They are hard to find, and if you do, it’s a fun and exciting catch. No one has found any in the Gulf of Mexico. This species can also be found hovering on the ceilings of Lobster holes and under ledges. It has also been caught off of jetties at night; use your flashlight to find them looking for food around rocks at night. You can get them to come check out your chum slick by tying a dead fish to a line up current near where you think they are hiding.

The Smooth Tail Lobster is a dark greenish brown color with numerous small roundish spots of light yellow. They can be identified by the many white spots on their solid colored segmented tail. These lobsters rarely grow any larger than the legal size for harvesting. People say they caught this rare fish off the southeast coast in water over 100 feet deep, on rocks and natural reefs. The Smooth Tail Lobster lives from Southeast Florida to The Keys. No one has found one in the Gulf of Mexico. They used to be common in Florida, but now only a dozen or less are reported caught each year. Surely many more are caught but not reported. Because this species is so rare, please take it back to where it came from so it can have babies and maybe come back to Florida waters. Photo Courtesy of diligaf, member of www. spearboard. com.

Ridged Slipper Lobsters like to live in sandy areas, especially ones with shells, mud, and coral. They are most often found in The Keys and Dry Tortugas. This species buries itself in the sand during the day and comes out to feed at night. The Ridged Slipper inhabits all regions of Florida. Photo Courtesy of http://www. gulfcouncil. org J. Hunt 2009.

The Spanish Slipper Lobster lives in sandy areas with high relief coral structure in cracks. It usually buries itself in the sand. This slow, sluggish, nocturnal species feeds on algae and detritus. This slipper lobster can get very large and tastes excellent. The Spanish Slipper inhabits all regions of Florida. Photo Courtesy of http://www. gulfcouncil. org J. Hunt 2009.

The Atlantic Ocean and the southwest Gulf of Mexico are home to this species. It can be found from North Carolina to Brazil. Photo Courtesy of http://www. dnr. sc. gov/marine.

This lobster has been found in Florida’s northern Gulf waters. It was found on the Flower Banks in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Photo Courtesy of http://flowergarden. noaa. gov/about/crustaceanlist. html.

Slipper Lobsters have very hard shells that are hard to split with a cleaver. Their tails are wider and have twice as much meat as a Spiny Lobster’s. They also taste better than the Spiny Lobster, so don’t let the fact that they look like dinosaurs stop you from enjoying a delicious meal.

The Long Armed Spiny Lobster is also called Long Handed or Red Banded in the Caribbean. This species is one of a kind because one of its front legs has a big claw on it. It has been found in deep water and isn’t often seen. Photo Courtesy of reefguide. org/redbandedlobster. html.

This type of lobster has shorter antennae than the Spiny Lobster and long hairs all over its body, which is how it got its name. This species has been sited on very deep offshore reefs and is rarely encountered.

Are Lobsters Bugs?

So why are lobsters called Bugs? Nobody knows because Lobsters are crustaceans, sometimes called Crawfish, not bugs. One speculation is because they have a brain the size of a pencil tip, similar to a bug. Some people think lobsters are bugs because they have antennae and so many legs. To make things even stranger, groups of hundreds or thousands of lobsters will march across the sea floor from one area to another, like an ant parade. Since the lobster’s nervous system is like that of a grasshopper, that may be where its name comes from. Lobsters are sometimes called “cockroaches of the sea” because they eat anything that is on the bottom of the water.

Lobsters also have a very interesting trait: they can grow back lost limbs or antennae! Lobsters are equipped with a defense mechanism called “reflex amputation,” which lets them cut off a limb that is being grabbed by a predator or caught in a trap. The limb or antennae will grow back in no time and does not hurt the Lobster.

7 month old baby spiny lobster – Photo Courtesy of FWC on Flickr

The antennae of lobsters are also found on most insects, which may be where the name came from. The lobster uses its long, hairy antennae to sense smell. It is said that lobsters are more sensitive to smell than sharks. They wave their antennaes around, sniffing for food, detecting predators, and looking for good hiding places. Similar to cats’ whiskers, they use the antennae to feel things. They do this to pick up on changes or to check the size of a hole in a reef to see if they can fit. There are times when a lobster will come out of its hole and challenge you, using its antennae as both a warning and a weapon. The lobster antennaes are very versatile and important for their survival. Or lobsters could just be called “Bugs” because they have big beady black eyes!.

Finding Lobster In The Gulf of Mexico #short