Did you ever look at a lobster swimming around in the little fish tank at a restaurant and wonder where he lived before he was caught? You may remember he lived in the ocean, but did you realize that most lobsters live in only the coastal regions around the world. Once considered unfit to eat, lobsters have risen in such popularity in the last few decades that fishermen can hardly capture enough of them to meet demand.
A lobster newborn doesn't look much like his parents. Mother lobsters lay as many as 10,000 eggs, and if this lobster baby is real lucky, he'll be one of the 10 out of that number that lives to maturity. The mortality rate is exceptionally high amongst lobster babies. Many of them get eaten during their first two weeks of life while living in the upper three feet of the ocean. During this stage of his life, he will molt three times.
Once the baby lobster has reached stage four, he has learned to swim well. He will spend this stage looking for a permanent place to live on the ocean floor. In the coastal regions around Cape Cod, he will pick out a home in the salt marsh peat. In coastal waters around Maine, his preference will be an area with cobble (small rocks) on the bottom.
Cobble is an exceptionally suitable habitat for lobsters. There are many crevices and cracks around and under the small rocks that make up the cobble which offers him places to hide and wait for his food to come to him. While many coastal regions offer rocky bottoms, Maine is ideal in that it also has just what lobsters like, clean, cold water.
After molting once more and moving into stage five of his life, the lobster moves into his new ocean bottom home. During his first year he spends the majority of his time hiding in his crevice or tunnel in order to keep from being eaten by his numerous predators. After this first year he spends a lot of time during the next three years hiding in the ocean bottom kelp and seaweed while looking for food.
Adolescent lobsters have great survival instincts that keep them hidden for the first few years of their lives. If he were to swim out in the open ocean when he was still this young, he would be eaten within a matter of a few minutes. When he gets larger he will make another move to an area where there are larger rocks for him to hide in. He might also choose to live in a muddy or sandy area anywhere between the edge of the continental shelf and the shore. Wherever he lives, he will live alone, because he's not a social creature.
No matter where a lobster lives, there are sure to be fishermen after him. If he manages to evade natural predators and fishermen, however, he can live a very long life. During colonial times when lobsters were abundant, there are reports that some of the lobsters were five or six feet long.
During modern times, the largest lobster on record was caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1977. This monster lobster was between three and four feet long and weighed 44 lbs., 6 oz. He was thought to have been around 100 years old. Believe it, or not!
A lobster newborn doesn't look much like his parents. Mother lobsters lay as many as 10,000 eggs, and if this lobster baby is real lucky, he'll be one of the 10 out of that number that lives to maturity. The mortality rate is exceptionally high amongst lobster babies. Many of them get eaten during their first two weeks of life while living in the upper three feet of the ocean. During this stage of his life, he will molt three times.
Once the baby lobster has reached stage four, he has learned to swim well. He will spend this stage looking for a permanent place to live on the ocean floor. In the coastal regions around Cape Cod, he will pick out a home in the salt marsh peat. In coastal waters around Maine, his preference will be an area with cobble (small rocks) on the bottom.
Cobble is an exceptionally suitable habitat for lobsters. There are many crevices and cracks around and under the small rocks that make up the cobble which offers him places to hide and wait for his food to come to him. While many coastal regions offer rocky bottoms, Maine is ideal in that it also has just what lobsters like, clean, cold water.
After molting once more and moving into stage five of his life, the lobster moves into his new ocean bottom home. During his first year he spends the majority of his time hiding in his crevice or tunnel in order to keep from being eaten by his numerous predators. After this first year he spends a lot of time during the next three years hiding in the ocean bottom kelp and seaweed while looking for food.
Adolescent lobsters have great survival instincts that keep them hidden for the first few years of their lives. If he were to swim out in the open ocean when he was still this young, he would be eaten within a matter of a few minutes. When he gets larger he will make another move to an area where there are larger rocks for him to hide in. He might also choose to live in a muddy or sandy area anywhere between the edge of the continental shelf and the shore. Wherever he lives, he will live alone, because he's not a social creature.
No matter where a lobster lives, there are sure to be fishermen after him. If he manages to evade natural predators and fishermen, however, he can live a very long life. During colonial times when lobsters were abundant, there are reports that some of the lobsters were five or six feet long.
During modern times, the largest lobster on record was caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1977. This monster lobster was between three and four feet long and weighed 44 lbs., 6 oz. He was thought to have been around 100 years old. Believe it, or not!
About the Author:
Reading this article you can tell it is about live lobsters, this really is an immense topic and can't explain it all when that would take multiple articles. There is also steamer lobster that we could probably write another 10 articles on. You may also want to check out to store live lobster.
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