Please solve this mystery for us!

[bubbles]

My husband took this photo in July 2007 whilst on holiday at Discovery Bay, Jamaica. We were in aprox 10m of water. When we asked Jamaqua Dive Centre what it was, they said the local name for it was 'Lobster Mother'. My husband wondered whether it was some sort of Horseshoe Crab but the instructor said it wasn't. I wrote a review for our local dive club magazine and included it in the write-up asking if anyone could identify it but no one came forward with any suggestions. We would love to know what this is!

[acelockco]

Well, the first thing you have to know is that Jamaican's will give you an answer to any question you have as if they really know, all the while they have no idea what you are even asking them. Most questions will be answered with a simple "Yea Mon" and anything else is made up on the spot.

It is called a Slipper Lobster or Shovel-Nose Lobster ( Scyllarides latus ) <----Scientific Name

The plates in the front are actually its antenna.

[littleleemur]

Can't really tell by the pic, but it is soft? a Stone fish of some sort? or is it hard shelled?

[bubbles]

Thanks acelockco - we have been wondering for ages! Know what you mean about the Jamaicans - but hey they are friendly. :)

Littleleemur - We don't know we didn't touch it but it looked hard!

[lottie]

Yep - it's a Scultured Slipper Lobster (Parribacus Antarcticus) my Caribbean fish book states : Slipper lobsters hide in crevices by day and emerge at night to forage out in the open. The flattened, plate-like appendages at the front end of the animal are modified antennae. A small, second pair of antennae protrudes from between them. These animals have no claws and feed mostly on soft-bodied animals. Several species occur in the rgion. P/ antarcticus can usually be identified by the rough texture of the antennae and carapace. It occurs in warm waters throughout both the western atlantic and indo-pacific.

HTH

psss - Found this website a while ago - might be of interest to some
http://www.fishdb.co.uk/

[littleleemur]

Yep - it's a Scultured Slipper Lobster

I'm embarrassed to say that I'm sure I've eaten it before :P It's sweeter and softer than lobster :P

[bubbles]

Hi Lottie,
Thanks for website address - it looks a very useful site - I have bookmarked it on my computer as I'm sure I will use it again. I couldn't find a pic of the Slipper Lobster on there but it took me to google - so I googled it and found a far better pic than ours on a site called 'Imagequestmarine'. So thanks for that. :)

[bubbles]

Littleleemur - you ate it! Shame on you the poor thing - what did it ever do to you? (Only joking - I like eating Lobster too so would probably like this!)

[littleleemur]

Littleleemur - you ate it! Shame on you the poor thing - what did it ever do to you? (Only joking - I like eating Lobster too so would probably like this!)

:confused:

I am sooo ashamed :(
...until I go to that restaurant again!:D

It used to be my favourite thing, especially when I was little, wandering the fish market and choosing my dinner live from the tanks. There were over 50 vendors. You'd take your receipt and then wander to the back of the market where there would be just as many restaurants/kitchens that you'd choose from. You'd get seated and hand your receipt to the waiter who would get the kitchen boy to pick up your "live catch" from the vendor.

After diving, choosing your seafood live from a tank is a completely different experience. Now I just let my mom choose. I don't want to see it in the tank anymore :(

[acelockco]

Wow, where is that fish market? I really would love to go there. How cool would it be to dive in the morning, and then go get some fresh seafood for lunch (or if you caught something have it cooked).

I am making some fish for dinner, so now I am really jonesing for that place.

Sounds sooooo good.

[bubbles]

I would love to know where that fish market is too. I love fish to eat - not sure as a diver I should admit that - but there is no way I could choose which lobster would meet its doom - I would then never be able to eat it!!!!

[littleleemur]

These fish markets are found all over Asia :) And are very popular with locals and some tourists.

Most of them are right at the docks, piers or along the riverbanks. The vendor usually has a slip for his boat at the back of the stall, or the vendor is selling directly from his boat. Then the place to get them cooked ranges from curbside kitchens to full service restaurants.

In more popular tourist destinations like Phuket Thailand, they've refined the process a little too much for squeamish tourists and you just choose a restaurant now instead of first choosing your fish. When you go outside of these tourist hubs, you can still find these traditional outdoor markets and kitchens.

There is also something very similar but is done on wooden rowboats (Sampans). You choose the party boat (basically long narrow rowboat with a long dining table down the middle and bench seating along the sides, and the ferryman/woman paddles out. Then you are approached by fruit, vegetable, meat and fish vendors also on boats to pick out your groceries. By then, you'll have a few "kitchen boats" paddling alongside, offering their services :) The seafood vendors have live fish & other seafood in buckets and will net them and hand them over for inspection and approval.

The Chinese seafood resturant is a very refined version of this tradition. It can range from a big wall of fishtanks and a wet area with an attendant right at the front entrance, to having the whole set up in the kitchen (in very very fancy restaurants) and you just order by the catch of the day menu which would be changing as you choose.

Many traditional Asians will not eat fish unless they've seen that same fish swimming a few minutes beforehand.

I prefer the outdoor markets & I love the Sampans because they are so much fun. & the good thing is that this experience is at once familiar yet so different each country you go to in Asia.

[bubbles]

Wow that sounds an amazing exerience - very unlike a trip to the supermarket then home to cook it yourself - wonder how many minutes or rather days or weeks since those fish last swam! :(

[rubber chicken]

I remember, many years ago, visiting a place in Malaya, which sat on stilts over the sea. Upon placing your order, the waiter would nod sagely, walk nonchalantly to the rail and then suddenly dive over the side, reappearing a couple of minutes later with a struggling catch in his hands. As a youngster this impressed the hell out of me. It was only much later that I realised that they had holding tanks under the restaurant.:rolleyes:

[bubbles]

Brilliant! LOL:)