LIFE OF THE LOBSTER

Very little is known about the biology of the European lobster but the National Lobster Hatchery is helping scientists to learn more about this mysterious species.

Commonly found at depths to 50m, lobsters usually live on rocky substrates, but they also burrow into the seabed during the first two years of their lives. Solitary and territorial, they hide in holes or crevices, emerging at dusk to feed. Starfish and sea urchins are a popular prey after moulting, as they provide the calcium needed for shell regrowth, but lobsters can become cannibalistic if food is scarce. Octopuses are a natural predator, but when in danger, lobsters can flip their tail fans and dart off backwards.

Despite commonly being depicted as red or pink, lobsters are usually dark blue, with a yellow-ish underbelly to aid camouflage. Their colouration is determined by a pigment called astaxanthin. Heat causes the proteins in this pigment to break down, destroying all colours except red, hence our assumption that red is lobsters’ ‘natural’ colour. Sometimes, this protein can be absent or stifled, causing wild lobsters to occur in red, orange, albino, black or even bright blue, but this is extremely rare.