Ornate rock lobster
Panulirus ornatus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A big green-blue lobster with large pale eye-spots down each side of the tail and legs ringed in cream and black like a wasp. It is noticeably longer than the painted crayfish it shares reef with, and the two are told apart by the tail: big round blotches here, a single thin white line per segment there.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~45 cm, to 60 cm
Bluebird, approximate - not from a cited source
- records near here
- 28 at 3 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
NSW — no size limit · 2 in total
source
· verified 2026-10-01
QLD — None · Combined limit: 5 per person, or 10 per boat (with 2 or more people on board) in total of all tropical rocklobster species
source
· verified 2026-10-10
QLD s 37 — closed season 1 November to 31 December each year
as tropical rocklobster = family Palinuridae (Fisheries (General) Regulation 2019, sch 7 pt 1)
where: northern rocklobster waters — tidal waters north of latitude 14º south and east of longitude 142º31'49'' east; and tidal waters west of longitude 142º31'49'' east
Whether it applies where you dive depends on the spot — open that spot on the map and press “fish here”.
Fisheries Declaration 2019 · Reprint current from 25 September 2026 to date · read 2026-10-13
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.