Lobsters

Lobsters come under the Kingdom Animalia. It is included in the Phylum Arthropoda and Class Crustacea. The Phylum Arthropoda includes animals like the crabs, prawns, lobsters, millipedes, centipedes, cockroaches, scorpions and spiders. Lobsters include large crustaceans from two groups, one with a pair of large claws and the other without it. Lobster is valued food stuff. Lobsters crawl rather than swim. Lobsters are bilaterally symmetrical.

Lobster species differ greatly in appearance and some are not closely related to others but they all taste great. The so-called American Lobster has claws. Lobster varies in color from green to dark blue. A meaner, more voracious critter is hard to find. They fight each other to the death for territory, and the winner usually consumes the looser. They eat their own young and give no quarter. They would probably be glad to eat you as well if they could, so shed no tears when you consume them. In the northeast American Lobsters are hatchery raised until they are about three numbers of male Lobsters are caught during the summer months and stored in ponds for sale during the winter.

The mole Lobster, a clawless relative of the American Lobster, looks more like a crab with a fat abdomen. It is a cold water species found on or around weed beds, usually near isolated islands. Many are found in the Azores, while some have been netted off the Shetlands, Greenland, and Iceland. Mole Lobsters seem almost as broad as they are long since up to sixty percent of the creature’s weight is a huge hunk of tail meat.

There are several species of clawless, warm-water spiny or rock Lobsters, also called crawfish. Do not confuse crawfish with crayfish which are a smaller, less delicious fresh water species. Another fresh water river shrimp which may run up to eight ounces is called a langoustine. It is also tasty but blander in flavor than saltwater shrimp.

The anatomy of lobsters includes the cephalothoraxes which is the fusion of the head and the thorax. The cephalothorax is covered by carapace of chitinous composition. Head constitutes of antennae, antennules, mandibles, the first and second maxillae and the first and second maxillipeds. The carapace is calcareous and tough to protect the internal organs of the head and the thorax and gills at the bases of the legs. The head has two pairs of antennae and the compound eyes are on mobile stalks. There are six pairs of small limbs around the mouth and five pairs of walking legs. The abdomen is strong and muscular with a strong segmented exoskeleton on the back. Lobster has its swimmerets underneath and ends in a tail fan. Lobsters have a pair of pincers called chelapad or claws, one is heavier and the other is smaller feeding claw. Lobster has an external nose which is porous so that the odor patch can be diffused from a higher concentration to a lower concentration and then out again. The sex of lobsters can be identified by examining the first set of appendages behind the walkers. The male appendages are bony and of female are feathery. Blood of lobsters is a clear fluid. Lobsters eat crabs, sea stars and sea urchin.

Unlike the aggressive American Lobster, spiny Lobsters are usually timid and retiring. During the breeding season they seem to lose their instinctive fear, often crossing shallow grass beds in great numbers. Spiny Lobsters grow about the same size as American Lobsters. They can be found in tropic areas all over the world. Fresh spiny Lobsters are just as delicious as fresh American Lobsters. They can be found in tropic seas all over the world. Fresh spiny Lobsters are just as delicious as fresh American Lobsters.

Sexing Lobsters:

Female Lobsters are more succulent than the males and may contain delicious roe. The females are at their peak just before the egg-laying season when they contain roe. Lobster connoisseurs know this and often ask for females when they dine out. As a result more of the females go to the better restaurants. It is rate indeed to find a female Lobster for sale but Lobster aficionados always search for them.

Lobsters may be sexed by examining their swimmerets, small finlike appendages on the underside of the tail. The males have narrow swimmerets. The first set is modified so that, when they are pressed together, they form a sexual organ with a duct to convey sperm. The females carry their eggs attached to the swimmerets which are larger and more rounded than the males.

Keep in mind that the thin claw is for feeding and the fat claw is for crushing. You really, really do not want to find out how hard the fat claw can crush. Lobsters sold with one claw missing are called "shorts", not to be confused with illegal, undersized Lobsters which are also called "shorts". You can get real bargains by purchasing shorts with just one claw. You get more meat proportionally because the meat in the legs becomes accessible. The meat in a large Lobster is just as tender and delicious as in small ones.

Frozen Spiny Lobster:

Frozen spiny Lobsters are sometimes tough and often have an iodine taste if the tail is over ten ounces. It is expensive and generally has little of its distinctive fresh flavor.

All lobsters are aquatic. True lobsters are entirely marine creatures. A few types of true lobsters are there. They are American lobster, Norway lobster and European lobster. The spine or rock lobsters lack the enlarged claws of true lobsters. Lobsters are invertebrates. Lobsters hunt food during night. Other than the normal colored lobsters there are blue, yellow, red and white ones. Except the white ones all lobsters turn red when cooked.

Try once!