LOBSTER

(Top) Spiny lobster (Palinurus); (bottom) American lobster (Homarus americanus) any of numerous marine crustaceans (order Decapoda) constituting the families Homaridae (or Nephropsidae), true lobsters; Palinuridae, spiny lobsters, or sea crayfish; Scyllaridae, slipper, Spanish, or shovel lobsters; and Polychelidae, deep-sea lobsters. All are marine and benthic (bottom-dwelling), and most are nocturnal. Lobsters scavenge for dead animals but also eat live fish, small mollusks and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates, and seaweed. Some species, especially of true and spiny lobsters, are commercially important. The lobster has a rigid, segmented body covering (exoskeleton) and five pairs of legs, one or more pairs of which are often modified into pincers (chelae) with the chela on one side usually larger than that on the other. The eyes are on movable stalks, and there are two pairs of long antennae. Several pairs of swimming legs (swimmerets) are on the elongated abdomen. A flipper-like tail is used for swimming; flexure of the tail and abdomen propel the animal backward. The true lobsters (Homaridae) have claws on the first three pairs of legs, with very large claws on the first pair. They have a distinct rostrum, or snout, on the carapace, which covers the head and thorax, or midsection. The American lobster (Homarus americanus) and the Norway lobster, also known as Dublin Bay prawn and scampi (Nephrops norvegicus), are the most valuable and are often marketed alive; the heavily muscled abdomen and claws are the parts eaten. True lobsters are found in all but polar seas and the greater depths. H. gammarus, the European lobster, a dark greenish animal, occurs on rocky bottoms of the European Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean Sea. H. capensis, of the waters around South Africa, grows to 10 or 13 cm (4 to 5 inches) and is of little commercial value. H. americanus, found in waters from Labrador to North Carolina, sometimes dwells in shallow water but is more abundant in deeper water down to 200 fathoms (1,200 feet ). Lobsters caught in shallow water weigh about 0.45 kg (about one pound) and are about 25 cm (about 10 inches) long. They are caught usually in lobster potscages baited with dead fish. In deeper water, they weigh about 2.5 kg (about 5.5 pounds) and are often caught by trawling. Exceptionally large specimens may weigh 20 kg (40 pounds). The American lobster is often marketed alive. It is commonly blackish green or brownish green above and yellow orange, red, or blue underneath. The red colour of lobsters is caused by immersion in hot water. Females are ready to lay eggs when about five years old. Sperm are transferred from males to females in summer, but fertilization does not occur until spring. A female lays 3,000 or more eggs, which remain attached to her swimmerets until they hatch several months later. Unlike adults, the young, about 1 cm (0.4 in.) long, swim freely for about 12 days and then descend to the bottom, where they remain. Some lobsters may live for 50 years. Young lobsters are preyed upon especially by dogfish, skates, and cod. The principal enemy of the adult lobster is man. Unlike true lobsters, spiny lobsters (Palinuridae), so called because of their very spiny bodies, do not have large claws. Usually only the abdomen is eaten and is marketed as lobster tail. The antennae are strongly developed. Most species live in tropical waters; Palinurus elephas, however, is found from Great Britain to the Mediterranean Sea. Two palinurid species are commercially important in America: Palinurus interruptus, the California spiny lobster of the Pacific coast, and P. argus, the West Indian spiny lobster, from Bermuda to Brazil. P. interruptus attains lengths of about 40 cm (16 inches); P. argus about 45 cm (18 inches). Jasus lalandei, the commercially important South African rock lobster, occurs in waters around South Africa. The mainly tropical slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) are rather flat and clawless, with antennae flattened into broad plates. Most species are short and small and of little economic importance. Deep-sea lobsters (Polychelidae) are soft, weak animals with claws; some are blind. None is commercially important.