Reef lobster..

[FuEl]

Haha...I'm starting to have my doubts whether these 2 fellows are actually separate species.. Anyone knows? Did'nt know different species of crustaceans will pair up and mate..

[FuEl]

Hmm..the female E.occidentalis fanning her bright orange eggs. Suspect male to be Debelius reef lobster..then again it was'nt so purplish when I first took care of it..

[iantoh]

hey fuel! they look like occidentalis sp. to me man. i mean, lobsters have colour morphs right?- something like one blue lobster per every ten thousand red ones or something like that? as the discovery channel advertisement goes? they appear to have the same spots and exoskeletal shape with the feathery like things (what are those called?). anyhows, its always nice to hear of all the cool species you get to take care off- makes one envious.

cheers,

ian

[Terryz_]

Could it be that the male might display a brighter color to attract the female... Just guessing... lol..

[FuEl]

Yea I thought so too it might be a color morph. Then again in all the years of reefing I have never seen a magenta colored occidentalis..have you? Then again there are other species of reef lobsters not common in the hobby..it might be one of them? Or the male might be a natural hybrid between occidentalis and debelius? I know hybrids are sterile..could that be why the larvae never survived?