Lobsters are a superfood containing lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids. They come in various colors besides red and can grow larger than 5 inches before becoming legal to catch. Northern lobster populations are thriving while Southern lobsters struggle with shell disease. Lobsters do not mate for life and females can store sperm for two years before externally fertilizing their eggs. They communicate through smell and have teeth in their stomach to grind food. Lobsters may not technically age due to high levels of the enzyme telomerase.

1. 10. Lobsters are a super food.
Foster’s Down East Clambake in York, ME
(Img Cred: Boston University, Kristen M. Stivers)

2. 10. Lobsters are a super food.
Lobster meat contains a rich source of lean protein. A one-cup serving of
cooked meat contains 129 calories, 1.25 g of fat and 27.6 g of protein.
Lobsters also contain omega-3 fatty acids which help with brain function
and may lower risk of heart disease and other inflammatory diseases.
Of course, that goes out the window once you drown the meat in butter
or mayonnaise!
Learn how to eat lobster here.

3. 9. Lobsters come in many colors.
Blue lobster caught in Massachusetts.
(Img Cred: Wikipedia, Adam Field)

4. 9. Lobsters come in many colors.
“Red as a lobster” refers only to cooked lobster. Lobsters have red
pigments bound to shell proteins that generally provide them with a
brownish color in the wild.
The red pigment is called astaxanthin, and it remains stable when
exposed to heat. While the shell proteins break down in a boiling
pot, astaxanthin holds strong and makes the cooked lobster bright
red.
However, live lobsters can have color variations such as yellow or
blue.
New England Aquarium researchers feed their lobsters special diets
to keep their shells white.
The lack of pigment in their “dietary lobsters” helps them study shell
disease.

5. 8. What size lobster can you catch?
Buddy Poland, Maine Lobsterman
(Img Cred: Boston University, Hillary Hoffman)

6. 8. What size lobster can you catch?
In Maine, for example, a “legal” lobster has a midsection, or
carapace, that measures between 3 ¼ inches and 5 inches.
The one-pound lobsters you order at a restaurant are about five to
seven years old.
Fishermen who violate the rules or even try to mutilate the lobster
to disguise the size face stiff fines.
Maine’s Department of Marine Resources set the rules to ensure
that each lobster caught for sale has had at least one opportunity to
mate, and that larger lobsters are left alone to keep the population
robust.

7. 7. Northern lobsters are booming.
Live Maine Lobsters
(Img Cred: Boston University, Hillary Hoffman)

8. 7. Northern lobsters are booming.
The populations in Maine and George’s Bank are thriving, while
Southern counterparts are in trouble.
The Department of Marine Resources reported that Maine
lobstermen reeled in nearly 94.7 million pounds of lobster in
2010, 12 million pounds more than the previous year.
The lobster population boom might be problematic. Fishermen are
not only over-fishing lobster predators like cod, but they are also
feeding lobsters with bait so they reach legal size sooner.
Such fishing practices give lobster an artificial advantage, throwing
off the natural balance of the ocean ecosystem.

9. 6. Southern lobsters struggle with disease.
Baby white lobster with shell disease
(Img Cred: Flickr, (Alex))

10. 6. Southern lobsters struggle with disease.
South of Cape Cod, lobsters exhibit problems with lobster shell
disease.
Bacteria infect the lobster shell, form black spots and holes, dissolve
the calcium in their shells and make them ugly and unappetizing.
The shell rot weakens the lobster’s immune system, warps
shell, and hinders molting and growth. If the shell rots
completely, the disease kills the lobster.
While researchers know the disease is not contagious between the
lobsters, the ultimate cause of the disease remains unclear.

11. 5. Lobsters don’t mate for life.
Do not disturb the lobsters
(Img Cred: Wikipedia, Phrontis)

12. 5. Lobsters don’t mate for life.
Contrary to popular opinion, lobsters cohabitate for a short
period of time while the female lobster sheds her shell in a
process called molting. She approaches a male lobster shortly
before she molts and he keeps and protects her in his lair while
she sheds and regrows her shell.
About a half hour after she sheds, the fully-shelled male lobster
gently turns over her floppy, naked body and inseminates her
with a sperm packet called a spermatophore.
She remains in his dwelling for a few days until she regenerates a
new shell.

13. 4. Females fertilize eggs later.
Female lobster with eggs
(Img Cred: Wikipedia, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

14. 4. Females fertilize eggs later.
A female can store sperm packets in her body for up to two years
after she mates with a male.
She fertilizes her eggs externally. The eggs remain protected
under her folded tail for up to a year. Lobsters can carry between
8,000 – 100,000 eggs! (Larger lobsters carry more eggs).
The female lobster flicks and releases her eggs away from her tail
when they are ready to hatch. However, only 0.1% of these eggs
reach adulthood.

15. 3. Lobsters communicate by smell.
Lobster antennules
(Img Cred: Wikipedia, Postdlf)

16. 3. Lobsters communicate by smell
Lobster pheromones travel easily through water.
Some of these pheromones are released in their urine while
fighting. Lobsters smell the pheromones by flicking antennules
located in the front of their heads. By sensing these urine
pheromones, lobsters can identify social and biological
characteristics like dominance and molting state.
Such social and biological characteristics also aid with mate
selection.

17. 2. Lobsters have teeth in their stomachs.
Live Maine lobster
(Img Cred: Boston University, Hillary Hoffman)

18. 2. Lobsters have teeth in their stomachs.
Lobsters crush their food with their larger “crusher” claw, pull food
apart with their smaller “ripper” claw, and “taste” with the sensors
on their first set of legs, before they swallow their food.
They chew their food with a set of teeth, called a gastric mill, which
resemble human molars. The mill is composed of three teeth that
squeeze, cut, and grind their food.

19. 1. Lobsters don’t age.
Lobster molting still from video
(Img Cred: Flickr, CaptJoe06)

20. 1. Lobsters don’t age.
Larger lobsters equate to older lobsters; they grow each time they
molt. Cape Tip Fish and Market in Truro, Mass. recently caught
and released a 22-pound lobster that they estimated to be 80
years old.
Lobsters show few signs of aging and their potential lifespan is
unknown. In most animals, genetic material degrades after each
cell division, which causes aging and slows growth.
Lobsters, however, have a rich source of the enzyme telomerase
which protects their genetic material during cell division.
Abundant stores of telomerase exist in multiple types of lobster
tissue, so the lobster keeps growing. Some researchers speculate
that lobsters’ rich source of telomerase may help them regenerate
lost limbs.
(Special thanks to Joey Ciamataro from the
GoodMorningGlouster blog for photo permission).