Australian rock lobster

Jasus edwardsii

Crustaceans
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth9–60 m
Water temperature12–18 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Jasus edwardsii, the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. It is commonly called crayfish in Australia and New Zealand and kōura in Māori. They resemble lobsters, but lack the large characteristic pincers on the first pair of walking legs.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Jasus edwardsii”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 2,081 records
February: 1,203 records
March: 525 records
April: 791 records
May: 1,375 records
June: 2,560 records
July: 2,638 records
August: 4,206 records
September: 5,050 records
October: 4,476 records
November: 3,001 records
December: 2,919 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 9–60 m · Deepest record: 943 m

0–10 m: 3,269 records
10–20 m: 7,774 records
20–30 m: 6,585 records
30–40 m: 3,128 records
40–50 m: 1,959 records
50–60 m: 1,391 records
60–70 m: 883 records
70–80 m: 514 records
80–90 m: 392 records
90–100 m: 383 records
100–110 m: 195 records
110+ m: 376 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–18 °C

10–12 °C: 36 records
12–14 °C: 450 records
14–16 °C: 167 records
16–18 °C: 323 records

Photos

(c) taylor h, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) graeme lunt, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Richard Littauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jay Pruett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Australian rock lobster, Red rock lobster, Southern rock lobster, common crayfish, cray, Crayfish, marine spiny crayfish, Melbourne crayfish, New Zealand Crayfish, red crayfish, red lobster, red rock lobster, red spiny lobster, rock lobster, southern crawfish, southern (marine) crayfish, southern rock lobster, southern spiny lobster, spiny crayfish, Spiny rock lobster, Tasmanian crayfish, Tasmanian lobster

Names in 3 more languages

German: Austral-Languste, Neuseeländische Languste, Südliche Felshummer
French: Langouste australe
Japanese: ミナミイセエビ

Other scientific names: Jasus (Jasus) edwardsii, Jasus (Jasus) novaehollandiae, Jasus novaehollandiae, Palinurus Edwardsii

Similar species

Australian spiny lobster
Panulirus cygnus
Coral cray
Panulirus penicillatus
Banded spiny lobster
Panulirus marginatus
Coral crayfish
Panulirus ornatus
Marine crayfish
Panulirus versicolor
Gibbon furrow lobster
Justitia longimana

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
214,181 open-data records from 1901 to 2023.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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