American lobster

Homarus americanus · The American lobster is a large crustacean found on the Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey.

Also called Atlantic lobster, Maine lobster, Canadian lobster, Northern lobster, True Lobster.

American lobster
Photo: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP)., Public domain
American lobster
Photo: Syrio, CC BY-SA 4.0
American lobster
Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassMalacostraca
OrderDecapoda
FamilyNephropidae
GenusHomarus
SpeciesHomarus americanus

Where it lives

Rocky seabeds from Labrador and Newfoundland south to New Jersey.

Fun facts

  • The heaviest crustacean ever recorded was an American lobster caught off Nova Scotia, Canada, weighing 20.1 kg (44.4 lb).
  • Lobsters communicate with scents in their urine, shooting long plumes 1–2 meters in front of them when they detect a rival or potential mate.
  • A lobster has one big crusher claw and one sharp cutter claw, and which side the crusher is on makes it left- or right-handed.
  • A female carrying eggs is said to be "in berry" because the eggs can look like the segments of a raspberry.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).