Panulirus

Giraldes, Bruno Welter & Smyth, David Mark, 2016, Recognizing Panulirus meripurpuratus sp. nov. (Decapoda: Palinuridae) in Brazil — Systematic and biogeographic overview of Panulirus species in the Atlantic Ocean, Zootaxa 4107 (3), pp. 353-366 : 363-364

Biogeographic overview of Panulirus species in the Atlantic Ocean

All species from the genus Panulirus as described by George & Main (1967) are characterized by living in shallow water with the greatest biomass between 0–50 m deep and limited geographic distribution between 0° to about 30° degrees of latitude. In other words they are tropical and subtropical species, inhabiting shallow warm waters mainly at temperatures between 20 and 30° C. George (2006) describes two evolutionary patterns in distribution of Panulirus spiny lobsters: 1) coastal species that keep the entire live cycle in shallow waters between 0–20 m, in Atlantic Ocean P. echinatus and P. guttatus ; and 2) species that migrate to deeper waters between 20–50 m in an ontogenetic migration, in Atlantic Ocean P. a rgu s, P. meripurpuratus , P. laevicauda and P. regius .

The actual distribution of Panulirus species in Atlantic Ocean ( Fig. 5 ), are as follows:

Panulirus argus : North Carolina (35°N) to Venezuela (8°N) including the Caribbean Sea (discussed here). Panulirus meripurpuratus : native to Brazil, from distributed from Pará (2°S) to Santa Catarina state (27°S) (described here); with an uncertain population recorded in Cabo Verde e Caribe-Florida (cited above). Panulirus echinatus : native to Brazil; distributed on the extreme north eastern coast of Brazil from Ceará (3°S) to Bahia (17°S) and the Central Atlantic Islands at St. Pedro and St. Paulo Archipelago, Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Trindade, Cape Verde, Canary, Ascension and Saint Helena ( Vianna, 1986; Holthuis, 1991; Pinheiro et al. 2003; Coelho et al. 2007).

Panulirus guttatus : found in coastal waters from the Bahamas and South Florida, (25°N) to Suriname (5°N) including Bermuda (32°N), Belize, Panama, the Caribbean Arc ( Cuba to Trinidad), Curacao, Bonaire, and Los Roques ( Holthuis, 1991).

Panulirus laevicauda : widely distributed, from the Bahamas and Florida, (25°N) to Guyanas (6°N) including Bermuda (32°N), Yucatan, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Central America, Antilles (Absente between 5°N and 2°S), starting again in Brazil from Maranhão (2°S) to Santa Catarina (27°S) including Fernando de Noronha and Rocas Atoll ( Holthuis, 1991; Melo, 1999; Coelho et al. 2007; Teschima et al. 2012; Gaeta et al. 2015).

Panulirus regius : is the only indigenous species from the eastern Atlantic, from 35°N to 15°S; common from Cape Juby ( Morocco) to southern Angola in Africa; including Cape Verde, Western Mediterranean (east coast of Spain, south coast of France) and Black Sea ( Williams 1986; Holthuis 1991).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Map of the Atlantic Ocean with details of the American Continent (North and South), Africa and Oceanic Islands; and the distribution of the species within genus Panulirus: [red] P. arg us; [purple] P. meripurpuratus; [brown] P. guttatus; [orange] P. echinatus; [green] P. regius; and [yellow] P. laevicauda.