Lobster

Lobsters are edible marine crustacean that belongs to the family Homaridae.  Lobsters are in the category Invertebrata.  Lobsters have a pair of long antennae, stalked eyes, four pairs of legs and a set of claws. The following is the classification for Homarus americanus

Kingdom:  Anamilia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda
Family: Nephropidae
Genus: Homarus
Species: americanus

There are two common types of lobster in North America.  The American lobster, Homarus americanus, belongs to the family Nephropidae.  The American lobster is generally found in cold waters off the eastern coasts of the United States and Canada.  Also known as “Maine Lobster”, this type of lobster is a highly valued commercial species enjoyed around the world.  Another common type of lobster is the Spiny or Rock Lobster.  Spiny lobsters are easily distinguishable from the American Lobster due to the lack of the pincher claws. Rather all 5 pairs of legs are about the same size, much larger then the Maine Lobster.  Spiny lobsters are often found in warm waters off the coasts of Florida, California, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia.    Spiny lobsters lack a pair of claws, have a pair of horns above the eyes and most of the meat is contained in the tail.

This list contains all known species in the family Nephropidae:^[7]

History

Lobsters were so plentiful many years ago that Native Americans used them to fertilize their fields and to bait their hooks for fishing. In colonial times, lobsters were considered "poverty food." They were harvested from tidal pools and served to children, to prisoners, and to indentured servants, who exchanged their passage to America for seven years of service to their sponsors. In Massachusetts, some of the servants finally rebelled. They had it put into their contracts that they would not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week.

Until the early 1800s, lobstering was done by gathering them by hand along the shoreline. Lobstering as a trap fishery came into existence in Maine around 1850. Today Maine is the largest lobster-producing state in the nation. Though the number of lobstermen has increased dramatically, the amount of lobsters caught has remained relatively steady. In 1892, 2600 people in the Maine lobster fishery caught 7,983 metric tons; in 1989, 6300 Maine lobstermen landed 10,600 metric tons of lobster.
Smackmen first appeared in Maine in the 1820s because of increased demand for lobsters from the New York and Boston markets. Smackmen were named after their boats, a well smack. Smacks were small sailing vessels with a tank inside the boat that had holes drilled into it to allow sea water to circulate. The smacks were used to transport live lobsters over long distances.

The first lobster pound appeared on Vinalhaven in 1875 and others quickly followed. Lobster pounds work in the same manner as the smack boats. The lobsters are kept in tanks with water passing freely through them. The first lobster pound was in a deep tidal creek, but today they are more common on docks floating in the harbor. Using the pound, dealers can wait for the price of lobster to increase or allow a newly-molted lobster time to harden its shell. By the 1930s, the traveling smackmen were being replaced by local, land-based buyers who served as the link between the harvesters and the public.
The buyer purchased lobsters from a harvester who in turn bought fuel, bait, and other gear from the buyer. The local buyer then either sold the lobsters to people who came down to the docks or turned them over to a regional dealer who sent the lobsters out of state

In response to demand for lobster that exceeded the range of the smack boats, lobsters were canned beginning in 1836. The Burnham & Morrill Company was one of the early canneries in existence in Maine. Now primarily in the baked bean business, B&M was canning lobsters and sending them to all parts of the habitable globe, according to an 1880 history of Cumberland County, Maine. Canning the lobsters overcame some of the difficulties associated with shipping lobsters, and by the second half of the 19th century the value of canned lobster had surpassed that of live lobster.
The canneries were so efficient at processing the lobsters that they were soon forced to work with smaller lobsters. In 1860, James P. Baxter recalled that four to five pound lobsters were considered small and the two pound lobsters were being discarded as not worth the effort to pick the meat for canning. Only twenty years later, the canneries were stuffing meat from half-pound lobsters into the tins for processing.

During World War II lobster was considered a delicacy, and consequently was not rationed. Thus lobster meat filled the increasing demand for protein-rich food. People could afford it because of the boom of the war-time economy. Although there was a decline in lobster purchases immediately after the war, lobster consumption rapidly rebounded. In the years between 1950 and 1969, per capita lobster consumption increased from .585 pounds (live weight) to .999 pounds. At the same time the cost of lobster outpaced inflation, increasing profits for lobstermen and thereby encouraging more people to join the industry. GIs were also given an added boost with money from the GI Bill that funded some of the startup costs.

As with all fisheries, individual states manage lobster fishing within their three-mile boundaries. In Maine, this job is done by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Since lobsters caught near shore and offshore look exactly the same when they are loaded onto the dock, it is important that interstate and federal regulations complement each other. An organization called the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, formed in 1942, helps to do this. A compact of 15 eastern seaboard states, the Commission has three representatives from each state. These people include the Director of the state's marine resources management agency, a state legislator, and a fisheries representative appointed by the Governor. The member states are responsible for implementing the Commission Plan. The federal partners in lobster management are also part of the Commission process and work to complement the states efforts. Through the auspices of the National Marine Fisheries Service, federal regulations are adopted for lobster harvesting between three and 200 miles from shore, the United States' "economic zone". Currently, the American lobster is managed under Amendment 3 of the Commission's American Lobster

Lobstering Territories

Maine lobstermen have traditionally protected their share of the resource through lobstering territories. In any port, they have an informal, often unspoken agreement about where each member of the fishing community may lay his traps. All the members of one community even lay their strings of traps in one direction, such as north to south, so they don't tangle their lines in someone else's gear
Youngsters who want to enter the fishery may start with a few traps or work as a "sternman," baiting traps and carting gear, for one of the established fishermen. Eventually he or she will be allowed to take over his or her own territory after a suitable apprenticeship. Should an interloper "from away" try to enter the game, he may at first find his gear has been moved or a half-hitch knot tied into his buoy line. If he doesn't get the hint, his traps may be severed from the line. (One string may easily link 10 traps costing $55 each.)

Lobster Management

All states and the federal government share a minimum legal size, 3 1/4 inches carapace-length--from the eye socket to the beginning of the tail. A lobster caught at this size weighs about 1 1/4 lb. The minimum size for legal lobsters was increased in 1988 after scientists persuaded the lobstermen that at the size lobsters were being harvested, 90% of all lobsters were being captured before they'd had a chance to reproduce even once. They argued that only ten percent of the population could not continue to produce enough baby lobsters to keep the industry going for many more years.

The scientists had hoped to increase the minimum to a 3 5/16 inch carapace-length, when closer to 50% of the females would be old enough to reproduce. However, lobstermen protested, and the U.S. regulators settled for 3 1/4 inches. (Canada has an even lower minimum size of 3 3/16 inches. These may not be imported into the United States.)
Any egg-bearing females must be released. Some female lobsters are "V-notched," that is, a triangular slice is cut from a tail flipper. This badge of motherhood is meant to keep them off the dinner table and in the breeding pool. Cutting the V-notch is a voluntary action on the part of conservation-minded lobstermen and the Department of Marine Resources. At the other end of the spectrum are lobster harvesters who scrub off the eggs from a female and remove any traces with bleach. Conscientious lobstermen and lobster police do not look kindly on these people.
Maine imposes a maximum legal size of 5 inches carapace-length so all our biggest breeders, which may produce 100,000 eggs rather than the average 10,000 eggs, can stay in the population.

Lobster Anatomy and Biology

Diagram courtesy of Department of Marine Resources, State of Maine.

Body Plan

A lobster consists of two main parts.  The first part, the cephalothorax, which is made up of the cephalon (the head) and the thorax (the mid-section). The second part that makes up the lobster is the abdomen, which is commonly called the tail.  The 14 segments that are fused together to make up the cephalothorax are called somites and each somite bears a pair of appendages that are located on different areas of the lobster.

The eyes of the lobster are found on the first segment, and are housed at the end of two individual, movable stalks found on either side of the rostrum (the very tip of the cephalon). Each eye is actually made up of thousands of little lenses joined together, which is why they are called compound eyes.  You would think that with all these “tiny eyes” that lobsters would have excellent vision, but ironically they do not.  In fact, in bright light a lobster is practically blind.  Lobsters cannot really see specific images but they can detect motion in dim light. 

The second segment of the cephalothorax bears the antennules, which are carried on a three-segmented peduncle (foot) and contain the chemosensory organs.  The chemoreceptors found in these short antennae detect distant odors or chemical signals that are carried by the seawater.  These messages received by the antennules help a lobster find food, choose a mate and decide if danger is near.   The more then 400 different types of receptors found on the delicate hairs of the antennules are sensitive enough to allow a lobster to distinguish between particular species of mussels. The antennae, which consist of a five-segmented peduncle and a single flagellum, are located on the third segment. These antennae are much longer then the antennules and are used as sense organs as well.

The last three segments of the cephalon and the first three segments of the thorax are where the mouthparts are located. The many mouths of the lobster have a variety of functions and are found on the underside of the lobster.  Some are used to grip food such as the second and third maxillipeds.  Others, such as the first and second maxillae and the first maxillipeds are used to pass this food along to the jaws, also called the mandibles, for crushing and ingestion. The Jaws are located on the fourth segment of the cephalothorax, and the other mouths are located on segments 5-9.

The remaining segments of the cephalothorax are where one finds the walking legs of the lobster and what are commonly called the claws. These five legs (including the claws) are located on segments 10-14, and are joined to the lobster on either side of the body.  The first three pairs of legs end in pincers, which are sharp, small, scissor-like claws that are used in handling and tasting food. Tiny hairs that line the inside of the pincers are sensitive to touch and taste.  The first legs with the largest and sharpest pincers are called the claws.  One claw is actually called the pincer claw, but the other is called the crusher claw. The crusher claw, being the larger of the two, is more powerful and is used to crush the shells of the lobster’s prey.  The pincer claw is like a razor and is used to tear the soft flesh of the prey. 

Lobsters can be both right and left handed.  Depending on whether its crusher claw is on the left side or right side of its body determines whether the lobster is left or right handed.

The other two sets of legs that do not have pincers end in a point called a dactyl.  These two sets of legs are mostly used for grooming and walking.  At the base of the third walking legs in females the opening to the oviducts is located.  This is the opening through which eggs are released.  In males the opening of the sperm duct is located at the base of the fifth walking legs.

The six segments that make up the abdomen are not fused together to allow for flexibility and movement.  The soft tissue that connects them is not hard like the carapace.  One of the advantages of having this flexibility is that it helps the lobster when it is in danger and needs to flee quickly.  It’s tail is able to contract forcefully and then retract quickly, allowing the lobster to scoot backwards to safety.  The first 5 segments of the abdomen bear the pleopods, which are also called swimmerets, and are located on the underside of the tail.  The last segment, where the tail fan is located, is dived up in to a central telson with pairs of uropods on both sides.  These uropods are pleopods that have been modified.  Altogether there are five parts to the tail fan.

Web Resources for Lobster

Learn More about Lobsters.

Lobster Recipes

Learn How to Cook Lobster