It grows to a total length of 50 cm (20 in) and can be distinguished from other Atlantic species in the genus by the pattern of horizontal bands on its legs.

[4] P. charlestoni can be distinguished from the other Atlantic species of Palinurus by overall colouration (being less brown than the other species), and more specifically by the patterns on the pereiopods; in P. mauritanicus, they are mottled and in P. elephas they are marked with longitudinal stripes, but in P. charlestoni, they are marked with narrow white bands alternating with wider red bands.

[7] The eggs are brooded on the female's pleopods for 4–5 months until hatching, which begins in November and peaks in December or January.

[10] Palinurus charlestoni first became the subject of fisheries in 1963, when three French vessels that had previously fished for P. mauritanicus off Mauritania prospected the waters of the Cape Verde islands.

[11] All catches of P. charlestoni are made with lobster traps, which have evolved in Cape Verde into a distinct local design.

[13] A ban on landing egg-bearing females was repealed, and the closed season extended from three to six months (July to November).

[6][14] Further specimens were obtained from other Camaret lobster boats, the Notre-Dame de Rocamadour and the Folgor, and the species was described in the Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle.