When lobsters mate, the male deposits his sperm into the female before she leaves, but that doesn't mean that her eggs are fertilized right away.
In some cases he hasn't provided enough sperm to fertilize all of her eggs -- there could be tens of thousands of them -- so she may seek out one or more additional males to get the job done [source: Gosselin ]. But even then her eggs might not be fertilized, because the female decides when conditions are just right.
She may store live sperm in her body for two years before using them to fertilize her eggs [source: NOAA Fisheries Service ]. Once the lobster fertilizes the eggs, they may stay inside her for another year before she lays them. And then they can stay attached to her swimmerets -- the small legs under her tail -- for another 9 to 11 months [source: Cowan ].
After they hatch, the larvae float for about a month before settling on the bottom of the ocean to grow. Only 1 percent of larvae make it to the bottom and in general, just two of every 50, eggs live long enough to become adult lobsters of catchable size [source: NOAA Fisheries Service]. The lengthy life cycle and small payoff help explain why female lobsters are discriminating about when they decide to fertilize and lay their eggs. One reason why more baby lobsters don't make it to adulthood?
They tend to turn on each other. After hatching, lobsters go through numerous stages of development. Once they start to actually look like little lobsters, they're not just floating along and eating zooplankton, fish eggs and other types of larvae anymore. They're competing for food and going after prey like crab, gastropods, starfish and marine worms [source: St.
In close quarters, these juveniles will eat each other without any qualms. This behavior is part of why lobsters aren't often raised in captivity -- they have to be separated into individual containers [source: Anderson ].
This cannibalistic behavior isn't limited to baby lobsters, though. It's common for adults to eat juveniles or lobsters that have just molted when they're in traps or tanks.
Until recently, though, researchers hadn't witnessed this type of behavior in the wild. Then in , scientists in Maine filmed lobsters practicing infanticide. They tethered a juvenile lobster, figuring that its natural predators, such as cod and skate, would take advantage.
At night, though, adult lobsters fought over it. The cannibalism was blamed on a recent glut of lobsters. Warmer waters and overfishing practices had reduced the populations of their natural predators [source: Doucleff ].
If you believe everything you read, you may recall seeing a lobster meme in the summer of -- a photo of a lobster with the phrase "biologically immortal, delicious with butter. Lobsters don't age in the same way as most other animals — they don't get weaker or lose their ability to reproduce, and will keep on molting and growing. However, that doesn't mean that they live forever. At some point, even if they aren't caught, they die due to natural causes. Often this is because they run out of energy to molt at all and not molting leads to fatal diseases [source: Koren ].
So, we know that lobsters eventually die, but we aren't quite sure when. Lobsters reach their adult size when they weigh between 1. Some estimate that lobsters in the wild can live up to 50 years. Scientists estimate a lobster's age by measuring levels of materials known to accumulate in its body over time, such as deposits of fat in its eyestalks or a pigment called eurolipofuscin in its brain [source: Koren ].
The latest research indicates that the best way to estimate lobster age may be by counting age bands well hidden inside the gastric mill in one of its stomachs [source: Poppick ]. The entire time I was writing this article, I kept craving lobster.
I've never ordered a whole one because I'm pretty sure I'd end up covering myself and other diners with pieces of it. And although I love to cook, I've never attempted a whole fresh lobster. I'm of the mind that lobsters probably don't suffer much if at all, but I still feel squeamish about cooking my own live food. Sign up for our Newsletter!
Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Wild Animals. Marine Life. Nothing like a lovely lobster dinner with a glass of white wine! But the lobster has some unusual habits. In Colonial America, lobster was so plentiful, people were sick of eating it. A lobster's dominant claw can be either on the right side or left side.
Lobsters have no vocal chords. Lobsters love to fight and female lobsters adore the most aggressive one in the bunch. After lobsters molt, they are starving and deficient in nutrients, so they often eat the shell they have just molted to replenish their calcium levels. Ever wonder what lobsters do all day at the bottom of the ocean? Read on for some insight into the lifestyle of Maine lobsters.
Smaller lobsters typically live in rocky habitats or seaweed where they can find protection and food. Larger lobsters may explore further offshore in coastal habitats. Most lobsters do not migrate, and will only travel about a mile. Some larger lobsters that live in deeper waters are known to migrate closer to the shore in summer. While lobsters most commonly swim or crawl forwards, they can swim backward just as easily.
If a lobster feels threatened or startled, it will dart backward by curling and uncurling its tail. This allows it to keep its eyes on the predator or threat in front of it while escaping. Before dropping a lobster into a pot for the first time, many people find themselves wondering, "Do lobsters feel pain?
Lobsters do not have a cerebral cortex, which is what gives humans our perception of pain, so it is unlikely that lobsters can feel pain. The hissing noise that occurs when a lobster is boiled can often be mistaken for crying or screaming but is just steam escaping from the lobster's shell. Lobsters typically dine on fresh food such as clams, crabs, snails, mussels, sea urchins and small fish. However, when these food sources are not available or are scarce, they will also eat other lobsters.
Other lobsters are the biggest threat just after a lobster has molted when it is an easy target for all predators, including other hungry lobsters. Lobsters are only able to breed seasonally, right after the female lobster has molted. Once she sheds her hard shell, she releases a pheromone to attract male lobsters for breeding. This has the bonus of protecting her from being eaten by other lobsters before her new shell has grown because male lobsters would rather mate with her than eat her.
Once the female lobster has mated, she can carry the sperm in her body and choose when she wants to fertilize her eggs. If the water is warm and conditions are fair, she can hold the sperm for up to a year. Female lobsters can produce more than eight thousand eggs which may be fertilized by several different males. Lobster eggs are carried under the female's body in her swimmerets until they hatch nine to twelve months later. As far as scientists know, lobsters continue to grow throughout their entire lives.
Lobsters will continue to eat, grow and molt indefinitely until they die of natural causes or are caught. The largest lobster recorded so far was caught in Nova Scotia in The monstrous lobster was 3.
Since then, many Maine lobsters weighing nearly thirty pounds have been pulled out of the Atlantic Ocean. Theoretically, there could be massive lobsters living in the deeper ocean that we simply have not yet discovered. As lobsters get older, they show no signs of aging. Older lobsters continue to eat, have a stable metabolism and have high energy.
Lobsters also continue to mate and reproduce with equal vigor. In fact, older and larger female lobsters can carry more eggs than younger, smaller lobsters. This has caused scientists and lobster-lovers alike to ask, "Are lobsters immortal? Most lobsters die from external causes, including predators, humans and disease, but it is still possible for a lobster to die from old age. This typically occurs when an aging lobster is unable to continue molting and rots inside of its shell.
Scientists do not have a method to accurately determine the age of a lobster. When lobsters molt, they also shed their gastric mill and digestive tract along with their shell.
This means that no hard parts are left for scientists to sample to determine age. However, scientists can estimate the age of a lobster based on its size.
Lobsters purchased in stores are typically about five to seven years old, but scientists estimate that lobsters can live to be over one hundred years old. From slave food to delicacy, lobster has traveled a long way to make it to our dinner plates today.
Read on for some fascinating history about how lobster became a delectable food fit for kings. The first Maine lobster catch was recorded by James Rosier in , but the lobster industry truly took off in the s when lobster "smacks" were introduced. Life Cycle The female lobster can only mate right after molting.
She uses chemical communication to attract a mate and releases a pheromone or chemical that lets the male know she is ready to mate. The male deposits his sperm in the female. The female can carry the sperm in a seminal receptacle for up to 15 months.
When she releases her eggs, they pass by the seminal receptacle and are fertilized by the sperm. The female can carry tens of thousands of eggs at a time. Lobster larvae molts four times in the first 10 to 20 days. In these first days, the larvae are found near the surface of the water. Eventually, the young lobster is large enough to sink to the ocean floor.
The young lobster molts 10 more times in its first year. At the end of its first year, it is about an inch in length. It takes a lobster up to six years to grow to a weight of one pound! Lobsters can live as long as 50 years! The lobster is a solitary creature. It can also be very aggressive with other lobsters! Lobsters may threaten and shove at each other with their claws. Home Wild Files N. Behavior The lobster is a solitary creature.
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