Palinurus barbarae is a species of spiny lobster

Spiny lobster

Spiny lobsters, also known as langouste or rock lobsters, are a family of about 45 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia...

 described in 2006, which was found by fishermen working the waters above the Walters Shoals

Walters Shoals

The Walters Shoals is a group of submerged mountains off the coast of Madagascar. Despite being 700 kilometres from the coast, the tips of the some of the mountains are only 50 metres below the surface. The Walters Shoals are home to many species of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.It was discovered...

, a series of submerged mountains

Seamount

A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...

 700 kilometres (435 mi) south of Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. The animal weighs 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) and reaches up to 40 centimetres (15.7 in) long excluding the long antennae

Antenna (biology)

Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....

, and is similar to P. delagoae, found off South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, from which it may be differentiated by a number of characters including the larger number of spines. There are fears that the species, which lives in an area outside any country's jurisdiction

International waters

The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...

, may now be exploited, or that it has already been brought near to extinction by overfishing

Overfishing

Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....

.