• Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Crustacea
  • Class: Malacostraca
  • Subclass: Eumalacostraca
  • Superorder: Eucarida
  • Order: Decapoda
  • Suborder: Macrura Reptantia
  • Infraorder: Achelata
  • Family: Palinuridae
  • Scientific name: Palinurus elephas
  • Norwegian: europeisk langust

Characteristics:

P. elaphas may reach a length of 60 cm, but more than 40 is rare. Adults are usually 25-30 cm. The carapace is reddish-brown with yellow spots evenly distributed along the body. The slightly compressed carapace is covered with forward pointing spines. The spiny antennae are usually longer than the body.

Habitat:

It is most frequent on depths between 3 and 40 meters. It is most frequent on rocky locations, but can be found as sandy or muddy locations as well, as long as there is a hideout in a crevice or under a stone, where it can stay during daytime. Under shelter of the dark it dares to take a walk in open landscape in hunt for food.

Distribution:

This species is registered in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the Mediterranean and the Azores to the the British Islands and southern Norway.