Alan Davidson

Flat Lobster, Slipper Lobster

Scyllarus arctus (Linnaeus)

Appears in
top 1000North Atlantic Seafood
North Atlantic Seafood

By Alan Davidson

Published 1980

  • About

Family Scyllaridae

  • Portuguese: Cigarra do mar, Lagosta da pedra
  • Spanish: Cigarra
  • French: Cigale, Petite cigale
  • German: Bärenkrebs
  • Danish: Bjørnekrebs

REMARKS Maximum length 14 cm. This creature is like a lobster without claws. Its larger relation, Scyllarides latus (Latreille), reaches a length of over 40 cm, but is not found north of the Mediterranean and the Iberian Peninsula. They both make cricket-like noises in the water, which accounts for most of their common names; while a supposed resemblance to a slipper accounts for others.