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FamMILy 2.—PALINURIDAE. 
Crayfishes or Spiny Lobsters. 
Crayfish, Langouste of the French, are found in many parts 
of the world, and form a valuable food-supply. The term 
‘Spiny Lobster” is also used in contradistinction from the 
true Lobster. The first pair of legs is an unfailing means of 
distinguishing them; though frequently very stout in the 
larger Crayfishes, especially the males, it always ends in a 
simple claw, never in a pincer as in the true Lobsters. 
Eight species live in South African waters. Only two are 
peculiar, namely, Gilchrist’s and Parker’s Crayfishes. Five 
of the others are at home in the warm waters of the Indian 
and Indo-Pacific Oceans, sending outposts down the east 
coast of Africa as far as Natal. The Common or Cape Crayfish 
inhabits the southern extremities of the southern continents, 
whose coasts are washed by the cold drift-currents from the 
Antarctic. 
The following characters distinguish this family from the 
Lobsters: Jegs with six joints; the first pair not very much 
larger than the others, and ending in a simple claw ; second 
and third pairs also ending in simple claws ; first segment of 
the abdomen (tail) has no appendages; no pointed scale at 
the base of the long antennae. 
Section I. A small pointed rostrum or beak above the 
bases of the long antennae which are close together, not 
separated by a smooth plate. 
One genus with two species in South Africa. The Crayfish 
of this section are called “‘Silentes”’ because they are unable 
to make a rasping noise as do those of the next section. 
GENUS JASUS. 
Jasus lalandii. 
The Cape or Common Crayfish. 
The two horns are parallel and project forwards; the 
carapace bears spines and warts mixed with short hairs ; 
the abdomen has a transverse groove on each segment and 
scaly ornamentation. 
The males grow to a length (from rostrum to end of tail) 
of 16-18 inches, the females somewhat less. 
Deep red- brown with purplish or greenish tinges on the 
tail-fan and paler patches on the abdomen; albino (white) 
specimens have been recorded. 
Found along the west coast of South Africa, and occasionally 
in False Bay in shallow water; also on the coast of Chile, 
Tristan d’Acunha, and southern New Zealand. 
[C.P. 3—1918] 
