- 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.