As a marine biologist I have been studying lobsters worldwide for over 30 years, and have seen species that only grow to three inches long and others that grow to three feet long. Lobsters come in many different colors and shapes, but they all turn red when they are cooked. This is why the Hawaiians named the lobster “ula,” which means “red.”
Hawaiian lobsters do not have large front claws like the lobsters that are seen in restaurants after being caught off the East Coast. These large lobsters live out in the open, often on deep water sandy banks, so they need pinchers to protect themselves. Hawaiian lobsters live on the rocky reefs, often in areas of large surf, so they have long, thin legs for holding onto the rocks and the ceilings of underwater caves. When a shark, monk seal, large ‘ulua or human comes by to try and catch the lobster for dinner they dart back into the cracks in the reef or caves for protection.
One of the most-colorful and strange-looking lobsters is the small slipper lobster. We have several species here in Hawai‘i, but most of them have drab, brown colors that blend into the reef so they are hard to see. The slipper lobster has modified antennae that look like paddles. The antennae on the large, spiny lobster are long and thin. These flattened antennae are rock-hard, just like the lobsters’ exoskeleton which protects them from predators and gives a hard, outer shell to protect their soft organs inside. The antennae have small hairs on them that can detect small invertebrates on the reef that the lobsters eat.
The regal slipper lobster is very hard to find, as it usually lives in deep-water caves and is active at night. For some reason it has amazing blue and red colors with dark-red eyes set down in sockets in its head.
We think these rare creatures live way down to depths of over 150 feet deep but come up into shallow water in the spring to breed. The females carry thousands of bright-orange eggs under their tail that hatch into tiny larvae, and for six months or so float around at sea until they find the right reef to settle down on and grow.
Ulapapa is a tiny lobster growing no larger than about eight inches long, and I have only seen six of them out of over 3,000 scuba dives. All six were in caves under the reef during the spring, and they glowed bright red and blue in powerful dive lights. While scuba diving in a dark cave with waves crashing up above, and seeing a fluorescent, red-and- blue lobster walking backwards, upside down on the ceiling of the cave, is like watching a “Star Wars” movie, but it is real.
The regal slipper lobster is best known in Hawaiian waters, but they have also been found in New Caladonia and on Easter and Reunion Islands.
See ulapapa in action in “The World’s Guide To Hawaiian Reef Creatures” at underwater2web.com. Support ongoing marine-life research and educational programs at gofundme.com/5urrm4zw.
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Terry Lilley, a marine biologist, lives in Hanalei. His websites include underwater-2web.com and www.gofundme.com/5urrm4zw.
