Painted spiny lobster grow to a maximum length of 40 centimeters but most are smaller around the 25 to 40 cm range. The body is covered in a hard carapace covered in spines with two prominent forward facing spines between the eyes. The tail is covered in a segmented carapace allowing it to flex and provide powerful rearwards propulsion. The tail has a fan on the end with assists with the propulsion when flared out. Painted spiny lobsters have separate sexes and at maturity which is generally around four to five years they begin breeding. Males deposit a sperm packet on the underside of females and after they ripen they release up to 100000 eggs which are carried under the females’ tail. Females have specialized attachments (pleopods) on the underside of the tail for the eggs to hook onto.
