Malacostracans · Decapoda · Nephropidae

American Lobster

Homarus americanus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The American lobster, also known as the Canadian lobster, northern lobster or Maine lobster, is a decapod crustacean of the family Nephropidae. It generally lives in dark, cold water where there are rocks and other places that let it hide from predators. It is found off the coasts of the United States, especially in Maine, and in the colder waters of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces of Canada, where it grows to enormous size. Its measurements generally range from 20 to 60 cm long and 0.5 to 4 kg in weight, but specimens of more than 1 m long and 16 kg have been found.

Weight

up to 20.1 kg

Size

up to 64 cm

Lifespan

100 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Ocean Crustacean

3countries 14parks 5dive sites2same family

Fun facts

fisiologíaIt can live several decades and keeps growing all its life, moulting its exoskeleton periodically even when very old.
It is the heaviest crustacean in the world and the heaviest living arthropod there is: the Guinness record is an individual of 20.1 kg caught off Nova Scotia.
It never stops growing: it keeps moulting, breeding and regenerating legs throughout its life, with no apparent functional decline. It has been proposed as a species of negligible senescence.
The largest ever caught have been estimated at 50 or 100 years old, and possibly more.
Egg production increases with age rather than declining.
The individual usually landed is around 25 cm and half a kilo, a long way from those maxima.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Invertebrate - articulated calcareous exoskeleton (crustacean)
Habitat & environment: Rocky and sandy bottoms of the North American Atlantic coast, from Labrador to New Jersey; it shelters by day in crevices and burrows and comes out to hunt at night

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homarus_americanus