The
American lobster,
Homarus americanus, is one
species of
lobster found on the
Atlantic coast of
North America. Within North America, it is also known as the
northern lobster,
Atlantic lobster or
Maine lobster. It thrives in cold, shallow waters where there are many rocks and other places to hide from predators and is both solitary and
nocturnal. It feeds off of fish, small crustaceans, and mollusks.
The American lobster is found as far south as North Carolina, and are famously associated with the colder waters around the Canadian Maritimes, Newfoundland and Labrador, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,[1] and Maine. They commonly range from 20&_160;cm to 60&_160;cm in length and ½&_160;kg to 4&_160;kg in weight, but have been known to reach lengths of well over 1&_160;m and weigh as much as 20&_160;kg or more, making this the heaviest marine crustacean in the world.[2] An average adult is about 230&_160;mm (9&_160;inches) long and weighs 700 to 900&_160;g (1½ to 2&_160;pounds).
The adult American lobster's main natural predator is the codfish, but other enemies include haddock, flounder, and other lobsters. Overfishing of cod in the early 20th century has allowed the lobster population to grow enormously.
American lobsters are invertebrates belonging to the Arthropoda phylum along with insects, spiders, and other creatures having an exoskeleton in place of a backbone. Lobsters, crabs, shrimps, copepods, and other similar species are divided into the Crustacea subphylum because of their flexible shells, differentiating them from hard and brittle-shelled creatures such as oysters, mussels, and clams. Lobsters are further placed in the order Decapoda because of their ten feet. American lobsters are located in the infraorder Astacidea which contains only marine lobsters and freshwater crayfish. These creatures are distinguished from other lobsters because they bear pincers on their first three pairs of legs, the first being the largest. They are again subdivided into to lobsters the Nephropidae family, which contains lobsters used mainly for commercial purposes.[3]
