13 Types Of Lobsters In The Marine Ecosystem

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Lobsters are a family of large marine invertebrates that scavenge shallow areas of the ocean. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices during the day and only come out searching for food during the night. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, of which the first pair is much larger than the other two.

Here are 13 types of lobsters found in the blues.

1. Clawed Lobsters
These are the most common lobster species. They have five pairs of legs for walking, and three are clawed. Both the American lobster and European lobster are clawed lobsters, and they are the ones that are served to you in the restaurant.

2. Reef Lobsters
Although reef lobsters have claws, they are not considered as clawed lobsters because they only have one pair of claws; that’s the first one. They are very territorial and aggressive towards one another.

3. Spiny Lobsters
These lobsters don’t have claws on the front of their bodies. They have large antennae, which are spiny in appearance, thus named so. These kinds of lobsters are another popular source of food in restaurants.

4. ...
... Slipper Lobsters
These lobster are flat with enlarged antennae and looks like they were flat pressed. Unlike other lobsters, these are more likely to be buried under sand or mud during the day.

5. Furry Lobsters
Furry lobsters are smaller in size and have hairlike follicles over their bodies; hence they are named. They have noticeable antennae but not as large as spiny and slipper lobsters.

6. Squat Lobsters
These are officially not considered as a type of lobsters, but they do resemble clawed lobsters. They are more closely related to hermit crabs. They search for food in the sand.

7. Homarus
Homarus Gammarus (European Lobsters) grows to a length of 24 inches and can weigh up to 13 pounds. While Homarus Americanus grows in length between 8-24 inches and weighs about 1.1-9.0 lbs. But they are known to exceed 44 lbs. It’s the heaviest marine crustacean in existence.

8. Norway Lobsters
Norway Lobsters looks like other lobsters, but their bodies are narrower. They are orange-pink and grows up to 10 inches in length.

9. Cape Lobsters
The Cape Lobster is a species of small lobsters found in shallow coastal waters and rock pools in South Africa.

10. Nephropsis Rosea
It is also known as the rosy lobsterette or two-toned lobsterette, found in depth up to 2600 feet in the Caribbean Sea.

11. Metanephrops
These lobsters are also known as scampi. They look different from the other lobsters like Norway Lobster as they have two equal-sized main claws.

12. Thymops
The Patagonian lobsterettea or thymops birsteini is found around the coasts of South America. It has two large claws and a long tail. Its meat is considered to be delicious.

13. Acanthacaris
They have very small with very tiny eyes and lack color. Their antennae are long and whiplike. The first three pairs of walking legs have claws. The first one is symmetrical pair of claws and ends in long fingers covered with sharp spines on cutting edges but without hairs.

ANIMA is a unique marine life image bank based in Fremantle, Western Australia. Specializing in accurate, realistic illustrations of fishes, crustaceans, and a wide range of aquatic creatures as well as underwater drawings, paintings of coral reefs, and Australian fish identification guides.