Painted Crayfish (Tropical Rock Lobster)
Reef / TropicalThe painted (ornate-group) tropical rock lobster of WA's north — a spectacularly coloured spiny lobster, blue-green and white-banded, of tropical coral reef from the Pilbara to the Kimberley. A DIFFERENT animal from the southern western rock lobster, but managed under the same Recreational Rock Lobster Licence. Taken by hand or pot on shallow tropical reef, year-round in the north.
Overview
The painted crayfish (Panulirus versicolor) is one of the tropical rock lobsters of WA's far north — a stunning spiny lobster banded in blue-green, black and white, with long antennae and the heavily spined shell of the Panulirus group. It's a distinct animal from the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) that drives the famous west-coast fishery: the painted and the ornate (Panulirus ornatus) tropical rock lobsters live on shallow coral and rubble reef from the Pilbara up through the Kimberley, in warm tropical water rather than the cooler west-coast reefs. Recreationally they're taken on the reef by diving and hand-collection or by pot, year-round. They share the Recreational Rock Lobster Licence and the core rock-lobster rules with the western rock lobster, including the tail-clip requirement. They're outstanding eating, like all the spiny lobsters.
Identification
Tropical rock lobster, painted cray, painted rock lobster
Easy to separate from the western rock lobster once you've seen one. The painted cray is boldly marked — blue-green to blackish body with white and pale-blue bands across the abdomen, banded legs and pink-and-white antennae bases — where the western rock lobster is a fairly uniform reddish-brown to purple. They're different animals in different water: Panulirus versicolor is a tropical coral-reef species of the far north, while P. cygnus drives the west-coast fishery from roughly North West Cape to Augusta. The other tropical species you'll take alongside it is the ornate rock lobster (P. ornatus), which carries large pale spots on the legs rather than clean bands.
How to Catch
Fish heads, fish frames, whole baitfish (for pots) — though most rec-caught tropical lobster are taken by hand-collection while diving
Not applicable — rock lobster are not taken on lures or rod and line
Pot or hand-collection only. Diving is by hand, blunt crook or hand-held snare — nets and spears are illegal for taking rock lobster, though there is no rule against scuba or hookah. Pots must meet DPIRD construction rules, a licence holder may use 2 of them, and each fisher's float must carry their own issued gear ID number. Measure every lobster in the water before it leaves the reef.
On tropical reef, the usual rec method is free-diving and hand-collecting — working coral ledges, overhangs and rubble at snorkel and shallow-dive depth, easing a gloved hand or snare around the antennae and extracting the lobster cleanly. Pots baited with fish frames set on rubbly reef edges also take them. Gauge each lobster in the water; berried (egg-carrying) females and undersize animals go straight back. Handle the long, spined shell carefully.
The tropical rock lobster fishery is open year-round, as is the western rock lobster fishery to the south — no rock lobster in WA carries a closed season. Calm, clear conditions on small swells make for the best diving on the shallow reef. Work the reef on the lower tides when ledges and overhangs are most accessible.
Up to ~3kg; carapace from 76mm minimum legal size
Year-round (north of North West Cape)
Size & Growth
Painted crayfish are taken from the 76mm carapace minimum up to around 2–3kg, with most rec-caught animals well short of that. A good one off northern reef is a solid feed for two; the ornate rock lobster sharing the same water grows larger again. Like all spiny lobsters they grow by moulting, so size goes up in steps rather than smoothly, and a large animal represents years on the reef rather than one fast season. Because they're gauged in the water, judge them on carapace length, not overall size — the long antennae make every lobster look bigger than it measures.
Diet & Habitat
Painted crayfish are nocturnal reef scavengers and predators, working over coral and rubble for molluscs, small crustaceans, worms and carrion. By day they hole up in ledges, overhangs, coral heads and rubble caves with only the antennae showing, which is how you find them. They favour shallow, clear tropical reef from the intertidal down to a few tens of metres, so most recreational collection happens at snorkel and shallow free-dive depth. In WA they're a far-north animal: the Pilbara reefs, the Montebello and Mackerel Islands, the Dampier Archipelago and the Kimberley coral. They don't occur on the metro and mid-west reefs where the western rock lobster fishery runs.
WA Size & Bag Limits
| Minimum size | 76 mm carapace length |
|---|---|
| Bag limit | 4 |
| Counts toward | Not part of a finfish mixed bag — the 4 sits inside the mixed rock lobster daily bag of 8 across all species, and personal possession is capped at 24 lobsters landward of the high-water mark. A Recreational Rock Lobster Licence is required, berried females must be returned, and every lobster kept must be tail-clipped or tail-punched within 5 minutes. |
A Recreational Rock Lobster Licence is required to take any rock lobster, including the tropical (painted and ornate) species. Minimum size: 76mm carapace length. Daily bag limit: 4 tropical lobsters, taken within the mixed rock lobster daily bag of 8 across all species. Personal possession limit: 24 lobsters, all species combined, landward of the high-water mark. Take by pot or by hand/blunt crook/hand-held snare only — no nets or spears, though nothing bars scuba or hookah. Berried (egg-carrying) females must be returned to the water immediately. Every lobster kept, tropical species included, must be clipped by removing at least the bottom half of the central tail-fan flap, or punched with a hole of at least 10mm in the central tail-fan segment, within 5 minutes of it being brought to the boat or land. There is no closed season on rock lobster anywhere in WA, and the night fishing ban that applies south of North West Cape does not reach the tropical reefs.
Eating Quality
Outstanding — sweet, firm, clean tail meat, as good as any spiny lobster and hard to pick from a western rock lobster on the plate. Kill it humanely first: chill in an ice slurry until it stops moving, then plunge into boiling salted water for roughly 8–12 minutes depending on size, or split it lengthways and grill over coals with garlic butter, shell-side down. Smaller animals are sweeter and more tender; a big one gives more meat but wants a little longer and rewards splitting rather than boiling whole. Pick the legs and head meat too, and keep the shells for stock or bisque. Tails freeze acceptably if you blanch and vacuum-seal them, but a lobster eaten the day it comes off the reef is a different thing entirely.
Perth Tips
Painted and ornate tropical rock lobster are a northern, tropical-reef catch — Pilbara and Kimberley coral reef, not the metro and mid-west grounds of the western rock lobster. Carry a registered lobster gauge and measure every animal in the water. Don't confuse the licence rules: you still need the Recreational Rock Lobster Licence, and the tail-clip applies here exactly as it does in the south. Watch the spines when handling, and never take berried females.