Slipper Lobster Small to Medium

Appearance
Rough gray-brown body with scattered dark brown or red-orange spots
Reddish-orange antennules (small antennae-like structures) with purple tips
Legs have a distinctive candy cane pattern (red and white bands) and lack claws
Larger antennae modified into short, flattened, wide plates with smooth, round, edges on the front
First abdominal segment with one red round spot in center of back
Ridge along middle of abdomen
Similar Species
Spanish slipper lobster S. aequinoctialis; other slipper lobsters

Size
Up to 14 inches in body length; carapace length to 4.5 inches

Habitat
Rock, coral and sand bottoms in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

Behavior
Sluggish and nocturnal animals that bury themselves in sand. Diet consists of a variety of mollusks, crustaceans, and other bottom-dwelling marine life.

Their thickened carapace provides some protection from predation.

Reproduction
Usually indirect sperm transfer, females carry the bright orange eggs on their undersides until the eggs turn brown and hatch, releasing the larvae.