Of the Scyllaridae Family and Genus Scyllarus, the "proper" sea cicada belongs to the species arctus; nevertheless it is often confused with an "other similar creature - albeit much larger - belonging to the same biological Genus but to the species latus (commonly called large sea cicada or magnosa).
The sea cicada has an extremely characteristic shape, quite different from that of most known crustaceans. Stocky, with flat antennae and maximum dimensions on average more considerable than shrimps, prawns and scampi, it is also devoid of claws and looks more like lobster - with which it also vaguely shares the color of the carapace - than lobster, crabs, crab and spider crab. Note: the sea cicada usually reaches a maximum size of about 15-16 cm, while the large cicada (S. latus) reaches up to 45 cm per 2 kg of weight.
