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Also known as Bay Lobster, Bug, Shovelnose Lobster, Slipper Lobster, Squat Lobster and Mud Bug.

Moreton Bay Bugs are found along the entire coast of the northern half of Australia.   They live on the sea bed, in turbid inshore coastal waters from 10 metres to 30 metres in depth over soft, unconsolidated mud and fine sand and silt particles.

Two spawning or more are common and take place during the summer.  A female can produce between 16,000 and 60,000 (average 32,000) eggs per brood.

They are active at night, remaining buried in bottom sediment with only their eyes and antennules or "feelers" exposed during the day.  They are highly mobile and can move great distances (up to 50 nautical miles)

Adults are selective foragers and will capture live prey including fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

Moreton Bay Bugs are generally caught commercially as a by-catch of local prawn fisheries by demersal otter trawls and with dredge nets.

The Trawl Industry

The Queensland Trawl Fishery targets several species of prawns, scallops and other species. Trawls alter the substrate cover in the area being swept by the trawl and they catch fish and other bottom-dwelling (benthic) animals as a bycatch. Trawlers take and market a range of bycatch species, including Moreton Bay bugs, blue swimmer crabs, winter whiting, squid, cuttlefish and other species.

The trawl fishery is Queensland's largest commercial fishery with an average annual catch of about 6500 tonnes valued at $100m and 1200 tonnes of scallop meat valued at around $30m (QFMA 1998). The majority of catch is taken within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area with hotspots occurring in Moreton Bay, Townsville region, and Princess Charlotte Bay. Currently, 820 trawl boat licences from QFMA permit participation in the fishery with approximately 600 operating in the Marine Park.


Trawlers can tow either otter or beam trawl nets, travelling across the seabed at slow speeds, mainly between 2.5 and 3.5 knots at various depths. Otter trawls are used primarily for the capture of prawns and scallops, whereas beam trawlers (usually operating inshore and in estuaries, eg. Moreton Bay, Hervey Bay), is used for the capture of prawns (usually, greasyback, school and banana prawns). Beam trawling involves towing of a trawl net with the mouth of the net held open by a rigid frame on skids. Most of the catch goes to the bait market, but banana prawns are sold for human consumption.

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