Lobsters are thought to never stop growing and if they live long enough, they can reach up to 1m long!
Amazing Facts About the Lobster
- There are two main types of lobster species: clawed and spiny lobsters. Clawed lobsters have a pincer and crusher claw which can be on either the left or right, dependent on the lobster. Spiny lobsters do not have claws but have very large antenna and a harder shell than clawed lobsters.
- Most lobsters are a greenish brown colour but they can be yellow, white, dual coloured or bright blue! Although it is often thought lobsters are red, this is only because they turn this colour when they are cooked – with the exception of white lobsters.
- Two toned lobsters, where they are part one colour and part another, are caused by a genetic mutation. This is very rare – there is a 1 in 50 million chance of this happening!
- Most lobsters live in oceans but some can be found in brackish water or freshwater. Lobsters are bottom dwellers, meaning they live on the ocean floor.
- Lobsters feed on clams, crabs, starfish and other sea life.
- Lobsters are invertebrates, their shell is an exoskeleton protecting their body. A lobster’s body has 19 different parts, each covered by a section of the shell.
- When food is scarce, lobsters will sometimes turn into cannibals, eating smaller lobsters.
- Lobsters teeth aren’t in their mouths. Instead they are in their stomach! Food is digested in what is called the ‘gastric mill’ by what looks like three molars.
- Lobsters are thought to continue to grow their whole life. In order to do this, they have to shed their shell or molt. Before the new shell is fully formed, lobsters are considered soft-shelled.
- Only once a female lobster has shed her shell can she mate. Lobsters will mate and the female can carry the male sperm until she chooses to fertilise her eggs. The female will carry the eggs for 9-12 months inside her and then again for another 9-12 months externally.
- Lobsters have very poor eyesight, but this is compensated for by their highly developed sense of smell and taste.
- Lobsters have a total of 10 legs. If a leg, claw or antennae is lost it can grow back and be replaced!
- The largest lobster ever recorded was 20.14kg and between 3-4ft long. It was thought to be at least 100 years old!
- Lobster do not have a central nervous system like mammals, instead their nervous system is similar to a grasshoppers or ants.
- When a lobster is alarmed or escaping predation, they will swim backwards quickly using their tail.
- Lobsters can travel huge distances; one deep-water lobster was recorded travelling 225 miles across the seafloor! They are very sensitive to changes in water temperatures so this can cause lobsters to move areas.
- A couple of lobsters will walk along holding claws on some occasions! Usually this is an older lobster leading a younger one.
- Type: Invertebrate
- Diet: Omnivore
- Life span: 50 years in the wild
- Size: Up to 1m long (3.25ft)
- Weight: Up 20.1kg
- Habitat: Mainly saltwater environments, rocky environments preferred
- Range: Worldwide
- Scientific name: Nephropidae