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The animal on the cover of Web Services Essentials is a spiny lobster (also known as a rock lobster). There are about 45 species of spiny lobster worldwide, ranging in size from 2 to 26 pounds. Spiny lobsters have spine-studded shells and long antennae. However, unlike American lobsters, they have no large front claws. Spiny lobsters also have larger tails than American lobsters. They are colorfully marked with bright green, blue, and yellow spots on an orange or brown shell. Spiny lobsters inhabit shallow-watered, rocky environments in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide, as well as in cold waters of the southern hemisphere. Spiny lobsters usually remain concealed in rock crevices during the day and come out to feed at night. They eat a wide variety of foods, including shellfish, crabs, small fish, sea urchins, and sometimes algae and seaweed. They reach sexual maturity at 7 to 10 years and can live for over 30 years.

Although they are reclusive, spiny lobsters seem to be more social than American lobsters and often share their dens in coral reefs. One of the stranger sights reported by fishermen and divers is the so-called “March of the Spinys,” which is a mass migration of hundreds or even thousands of spiny lobsters that ...

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