{"id":30045,"date":"2023-07-07T13:29:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T11:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=78227"},"modified":"2023-07-07T15:36:56","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T13:36:56","slug":"spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiny lobster guide: where they live, what they eat \u2013 and why spiny lobsters should be cherished not eaten"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spiny lobster are fascinating creatures, says Gillian Burke, and worth more than being a dinner choice <\/p>

By Gillian Burke\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 07 July 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

What are spiny lobsters?<\/h2>\n
Spiny lobsters are a feisty family of about 60 species worldwide. While they resemble lobsters, it\u2019s worth remembering that, in the natural world as in the human world, looks can often be deceiving. Spiny lobsters are in fact only distantly related to true lobsters.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Where do spiny lobsters live?<\/h2>\n<p>The European spiny lobster\u00a0 \u2013 handsome crustacean, with impressively long antennae and heavily armoured body \u2013 has a wide range from northern Scotland south to the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n<p>Although it favours warm climes, currents generated by the Gulf Stream flush our western shores with warm water from as far away as the Florida Straits, enabling it to thrive along British and Irish coasts. A handful of faded photos of divers proudly displaying giant specimens hark back to a time when the species supported an important UK fishery.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>How big are spiny lobsters?<\/h2>\n<p>These long-lived crustaceans have been known to reach 60cm and weigh up to 8kg, though individuals over 40cm are rare.<\/p>\n<h2>What do spiny lobsters eat?<\/h2>\n<p>These clawless, or achelate, crustaceans venture out at night and use their large, stalked eyes and super-sized antennae to great effect, scouring the seabed for prey \u2013 molluscs and echinoderms such as <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/insects-invertebrates\/do-starfish-have-arms-or-legs\/"\">starfish<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 as well as carrion. Once spiny lobsters find food, they methodically shovel it into their mouths using spiky front legs. If threatened, their spring-loaded abdomens allow them to make a startling escape, with just a flick of a tail.<\/p>\n<div class=\""page"\" title=\""Page\">\n<div class=\""section"\">\n<div class=\""section"\">\n<div class=\""section"\">\n<div class=\""layoutArea"\">\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<p>If that\u2019s not enough to get them out of trouble, true to their name, spiny lobsters are protected by a hard exoskeleton covered in forward-facing spines that make them so awkward to handle that only the most tenacious of predators bother with them at all \u2013 most notably, us<\/p>\n<h3>Do people eat them?<\/h3>\n<p>Various species of spiny lobster are loved for the simple reason that in many parts of the world they\u2019re considered \u2018good eatin\u2019. In the Bahamas, \u2018lobster season\u2019 kicks off with a full-on carnival. In Brittany, they are highly prized and known locally as langouste, while in Western Australia a similar species, the western crayfish, represents one of the best managed and most valuable pot fisheries in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<p>Sadly, the lobsters\u2019 reputation rarely extends beyond the dinner plate. I think that\u2019s a crying shame because, on closer inspection, these animals are beautifully bizarre, with looks and habits strange enough to rival any science-fiction character.<\/p>\n<h2>Do spiny lobsters migrate?<\/h2>\n<p>Not convinced? Then consider this: spiny lobsters are known to march en masse along the seabed, like an approaching armada, during their seasonal migrations to deeper waters; females sing to males to attract a mate; and the larvae are paper-thin, see-through creatures that wander the high seas as plankton for up to a year. Studies have shown that the larvae can travel vast distances, riding ocean currents, and it is likely that this is how the latest wave of colonisers returned to British waters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<p>Female spiny lobsters migrate to deeper water over the winter and begin their return journey to shallow water in the late winter and early spring. The males also migrate, though their movement patterns are still unknown. Spiny lobsters can live 10\u201320 years, and possibly even up to 100 years. Over these long lifetimes many exhibit a homing instinct, returning to the same home ground each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\""page"\" title=\""Page\">\n<div class=\""section"\">\n<div class=\""section"\">\n<div class=\""layoutArea"\">\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<section class=\""highlight\"> <div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> \n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/marine-animals\/squat-lobster-facts\/"\">What are squat lobsters?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/marine-animals\/why-do-crabs-walk-sideways\/"\">Why do crabs walk sideways?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/hermit-crab-facts\/"\">Hermit crabs: all you need to know from how they choose their shell to what they eat<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\""layoutArea"\">\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<h2>Spiny lobster lifecycle<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\""layoutArea"\">\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\""layoutArea"\">\n<div class=\""column"\">\n<p><strong>Eegg<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In summer pregnant females, known as \u2018berried\u2019 for the orange, berry-like eggs attached to their legs, carry their brood of 11,000\u2013200,000 eggs to deeper waters where they are incubated for nine months. The females return to shallow water in spring to allow the eggs to hatch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Phyllosoma stage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hatchlings, called phyllosoma, are flattened, transparent, leaf-like and 3mm long. This unique larval stage is diagnostic of all clawless lobsters. Phyllosoma spend up to 12 months drifting on ocean currents.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Puerulus stage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The phyllosoma moult 8\u201310 times through a process called ecdysis, shedding their skin in order to grow. With each moult, their body shape changes. In the final moult they become a miniature version of the adult, the 2mm-long soft-bodied stage known as the puerulus, and settle down to life on the seabed, often among seagrass.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Adult<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These long-lived crustaceans have been known to reach 60cm and weigh up to 8kg, though individuals over 40cm are rare. Sexual maturity is reached at 4\u20136 years and 20\u201335cm in length. Breeding females are only receptive for a short period, so attract mates by stridulating \u2013 rubbing their antennae.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Main image \u00a9 Georges Jansoone (JoJan), CC BY 3.0 <https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Spiny lobster are fascinating creatures, says Gillian Burke, and worth more than being a dinner choice <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":30046,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-scaled.jpg",2560,1928,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-300x226.jpg",300,226,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-768x578.jpg",768,578,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-1024x771.jpg",800,602,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-1536x1157.jpg",1536,1157,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/07\/spiny-lobster-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-spiny-lobsters-should-be-cherished-not-eaten-2048x1542.jpg",2048,1542,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Spiny lobster are fascinating creatures, says Gillian Burke, and worth more than being a dinner choice","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/30045"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}