Evolution & Systematics

The Panulirus genus is the most recently evolved of the stridulating spiny lobsters, having diverged from a Palinurus type during the Miocene period (13-25 million years before present). P. ornatus has lost the flagellum from the second maxilliped and is considered the most recently evolved group from the Panulirus (Pitcher et al, 1992c). It is also characterised by a smooth and naked abdomen, without narrow transverse pale bands. The species can also be characterised by its colour markings, where it's pereiopods have transverse coloured rings or large irregular spots (George & Holthuis, 1965).

The relationships of seven species common to western Pacific can be categorized into two groups and genetic relatedness is shown below. (Pitcher et al, 1992c).