Thursday 9 January 2014

Rock Lobster


There are moments you really hope the camera is working...





...and really glad when it is.


Rock lobsters or slipper lobsters (Scyllarides latus) are becoming endangered in much of their habitat (including Tenerife) due to overfishing... you can see them in fish markets in Italy, but the catch levels are unsustainable.  There isn't much protection for them either, as they tend to be caught opportunistically and aren't considered to have much of a commercial market.  Divers, unfortunately, have been part of the problem, with their habit of considering anything large enough to fit in a goody bag as fair game.

Officially, their conservation status is "data deficient"

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