Tropical rock lobsters (Panulirus ornatus) are a highly cannibalistic species with intermoult animals predominantly attacking animals during ecdysis (moulting). Rapid, positive characterisation of pre-ecdysis lobsters may open a pathway to disrupt cannibalism. Ecdysial suture line development is considered for pre-ecdysis recognition with suture line definition compared for intermoult and pre-ecdysis lobsters emerged and immerged, using white, near ultraviolet (365 nm), near infrared (850 nm), and specialty SFH 4737 broadband IR LEDs against a reference of intermoult lobsters with no suture line development. Difficulties in acquiring suture line images prompted research into pre-ecdysis characterisation from the lobster’s dorsal carapace, due to its accessibility through a culture vessel’s surface. In this study, a novel low-cost spectral camera was developed by coordinating an IMX219 image sensor, an AS7265x spectral sensor, and four SFH 4737 broadband infrared LEDs through a single-board computer. Images and spectral data from the lobster’s dorsal carapace were acquired from intermoult, pre-ecdysis, and post-ecdysis lobsters. For the first time, suture line definition was found to be enhanced under 850 nm, 365 nm, and SFH 4737 LEDs for immerged lobsters, while the 850 nm LED achieved the best suture line definition of emerged lobsters. Although the spectral camera was unable to characterise pre-ecdysis, its development was validated when a least squares regression for binary classification decision boundary successfully separated 86.7% of post-ecdysis lobsters. Achieving post-ecdysis characterisation is the first time the dorsal carapace surface has been used to characterise a moult stage for palinurid lobsters.

Tropical rock lobsters (Panulirus ornatus) are a highly cannibalistic species with intermoult animals predominantly attacking animals during ecdysis (moulting). Rapid, positive characterisation of pre-ecdysis lobsters may open a pathway to disrupt cannibalism. Ecdysial suture line development is considered for pre-ecdysis recognition with suture line definition compared for lobsters emerged and immerged, using white, near ultraviolet (365 nm), near infrared (850 nm) and spe-cialty Osram SFH 4737 broadband IR LEDs against a reference of intermoult lobsters with no suture line development. An alternative pre-ecdysis recognition strategy used a novel low-cost spectral camera composed of the Sony IMX219, AMS AS7265x spectral sensors and Osram SFH 4737 broadband infrared LEDs. Images and data using the novel low-cost spectral camera was acquired from intermoult, pre-ecdysis, and post-ecdysis lobsters. Compared with the white light appear-ance, suture line definition was enhanced under 850 nm, 365 nm, and SFH 4737 LEDs for immerged lobsters, while the 850 nm LED achieved the best suture line definition of emerged lobsters. The spectral camera was unable to characterise pre-ecdysis. A least squares regression for binary classification decision boundary successfully separated 86.7% of post-moult lobsters. Achieving post-moult characterisation validated the speculative exploratory approach in developing this novel low-cost spectroscopy tool.