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Lobster

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience

A close-up of a European lobster, also known as Hommarus gammarus.

Lobsters are malacostracan decapod crustaceans in the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with strong tails and live in hidden spots on the ocean floor. Three of their five leg pairs have claws, and the first pair is often very big. Lobsters taste great, so many people enjoy eating them.

Lobsters awaiting purchase in Trenton, Maine

Some important kinds of lobsters live in cold waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean. These include two special species from the group called Homarus. There are also lobster-like creatures known as scampi. They look a bit like shrimp and are sometimes called "mini lobsters." In the north, they belong to the group Nephrops, and in the south, they are part of the group Metanephrops. These creatures are important for seafood lovers and for communities that catch them.

Distinction

When people say "lobster," they usually mean clawed lobsters from the family Nephropidae. These lobsters have special claws on three of their five pairs of legs. The first pair of claws is often the largest. They are different from other sea creatures called lobsters, like langustas, which do not have claws, and squat lobsters. The closest relatives to clawed lobsters are reef lobsters and freshwater crayfish.

Description

European lobster with cut antennae

Lobsters are animals without backbones that have a hard shell to protect them. Like many small animals, they need to leave their old shell and grow a new one to get bigger. They have eight legs for walking. The first three pairs of legs have claws, and the first pair of claws is usually the biggest.

Lobsters have two main parts to their bodies: the cephalothorax and the abdomen. The cephalothorax covers the head and chest and has feelers, mouth parts, and many tiny eyes. The abdomen helps them swim and has pleopods and a tail. Lobsters have blue blood because of a special molecule called hemocyanin, which is different from the red blood in many other animals. They also have a green organ called tomalley that works like a liver and pancreas.

Chart of Atypical Coloring in Lobsters
ColorPrevalenceNotable specimens
Albino1 in 100,000,000
"Cotton Candy"1 in 100,000,000Haddie (2021, Maine)
Blue1 in 1,000,000
to 1 in 2,000,000		Lord Stanley (2019, Massachusetts)(2019, St. Louis) Lucky Blue (2022, Maine)
Calico1 in 30,000,000Eve (2019, Maryland)
Orange1 in 30,000,000Cheddar (2022, Florida), Biscuit (2022, Mississippi), Jean-Clawed Van Damme (2025, New York)
Split-colored1 in 50,000,000
"Halloween"1 in 50,000,000
to 1 in 100,000,000		Pinchy (2012, Massachusetts)
Red1 in 10,000,000
to 1 in 30,000,000
Yellow1 in 30,000,000

Longevity

Lobsters can live up to about 45 to 50 years in the wild. Scientists guess their age by looking at their size and other clues. New ways to study them might tell us even more.

Studies show lobsters might stay strong and able to have babies as they get older. This could be because of a special enzyme called telomerase. This enzyme helps fix their DNA. Unlike most animals, lobsters keep making telomerase when they grow up, and this might help them live longer. The biggest lobster ever caught was in Nova Scotia, Canada, and it weighed over 20 kilograms!

Ecology

Lobsters live in oceans all over the world, from close to shore to deep waters. Young lobsters hide under rocks, while older ones live in deeper areas and may move to shallower waters depending on the season.

Lobsters eat fish, mollusks, other crustaceans, worms, plants, and dead animals they find. They move slowly along the sea floor but can swim quickly backward by flipping their tails when scared. Some tiny animals live on a lobster's gills and mouthparts.

As food

Lobster is often cooked by boiling or steaming it in its shell. People crack the shell with lobster crackers and take out the meat with lobster picks. The meat is commonly eaten with melted butter and lemon juice. Lobster can also be found in soup, bisque, lobster rolls, cappon magro, and dishes such as lobster Newberg and lobster Thermidor.

Prepared lobster meal with vegetables and chips at a coastal restaurant

People have eaten lobster for a very long time. Piles of lobster shells near old fishing villages show that lobster was a popular food for many years. Lobster is enjoyed in many places, such as Britain, South Africa, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. It was also an important part of the diet for people who lived near the coast in Europe. In ancient Rome, lobster was a favorite food and was even used to make dyes and decorations.

Lobster was first written about in cookbooks during the middle ages. It was a food for wealthy people and was often served at special parties. Over time, lobster became easier to find, but it was still considered a special treat. In North America, lobster was not popular at first, but it became a favorite in the 1800s. Today, lobster is enjoyed all around the world in many different recipes.

Fishery and aquaculture

Lobsters are caught using special baited traps. Each trap has a buoy to show where it is in the water. The traps can be placed in water from just a few metres deep to around 900 metres. Lobster fishers often look after many traps at once.

In the United States, there are rules to help lobsters stay safe. For example, lobsters that are too small or have eggs are returned to the sea. This helps keep the lobster population healthy for the future.

Species

Lobsters have been around for a very long time. Fossils of lobsters have been found that are about 140 million years old. Today, there are 54 different kinds of lobsters known in the Nephropidae family. Some well-known lobsters are the American lobster and the European lobster. Other kinds come from different parts of the world, such as the Japanese lobster and the Australian scampi. Each kind of lobster has its own special features and places where it lives, making the group very diverse.

Examples of Nephropidae

Acanthacaris tenuimana

Metanephrops japonicus

Nephropsis rosea

The fossil record of clawed lobsters goes back at least to the Valanginian age of the Cretaceous.

The family Nephropidae includes:

Images

A delicious lobster dish served at Fisherman's Wharf in Boston.
A close-up of cooked lobster meat, showing the claw, knuckle, and tail portions.
A delicious Icelandic lobster dish served with potatoes, vegetables, and dipping sauces at a restaurant in Stokkseyri, Iceland.
A colorful watercolor painting from the 1820s showing a lobster, a crab, and a cucumber by artist William Henry Hunt.
A lobster sitting in a tank at a fish market, waiting for someone to buy it.
A lobster from Thurston’s Lobster Pound in Maine.
A deep-sea shrimp known as Acanthocaris tenuimana, showcasing its unique body shape and long legs.
A close-up of Metanephrops japonicus, a type of lobster found in the ocean.
A close-up of a rosy lobsterette (Nephropsis rosea), a type of deep-sea crustacean.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Lobster, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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