No photo available
Painted spiny lobster
Panulirus versicolor
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 210359, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Painted spiny lobster
- Scientific
- Panulirus versicolor
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Lobsters
- Maximum size
- Up to about 40 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 900 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2009
Description
The painted spiny lobster is the spiny lobster most often seen on Maldivian reefs, with a blue-green to purple shell, white lines on the legs and long white antennae. It hides by day in crevices and under overhangs, often with only its antennae showing, and comes out at night to feed.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=1); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=126, 76 observers); literature records via OBIS.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Panulirus-versicolor.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=210359
- inaturalist.org /taxa/108371
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Panulirus_versicolor.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.