LOBSTER LOOKALIKES

Confusingly, a number of quite different crustaceans are all called lobsters. Here are three others found in British waters.

COMMON LOBSTER HOMARUS GAMMARUS

Also known as the European lobster, this is the species for which the European spiny lobster is most easily mistaken. It is similar in size, but sports a pair of spectacular front claws. The left claw is used to crush prey and the smaller right claw has a sharp cutting edge for slicing up food.

NORWAY LOBSTER NEPHROPS NORVEGICUS

Also called the Dublin Bay prawn or langoustine, but popularly sold as ‘scampi’. This crustacean is much smaller than the European spiny lobster, typically growing to 20cm. It prefers silty sediments, digging burrows that it leaves only to forage and mate.

SQUAT LOBSTER GALATHEA SQUAMIFERA

A strange-looking species that looks like a comedy cross between a crab and a lobster. True to its name, it grows to only 6.5cm, but what its stubby body lacks in length it makes up for in bulk. It is found on rocky seabeds at depths of up to 70m.