Lobsters are not just delicious meals and main stars of fancy dinners, there are many interesting facts you probably don’t know about these tasty crustaceans!
For example, did you know that American Lobsters can live up to 100 years?
Lobsters in cold water have slower metabolisms. American lobsters live in the cold Atlantic waters, which helps slow down their metabolism and this allows the crustacean to age slowly and live longer!
If you find this fact interesting, make sure to keep on reading and learn many other cool facts about lobsters below:
Lobsters can grow up to four feet long and weigh as much as 40 pounds.
You might think lobster blood is red like ours, but it’s clear.
Lobster blood turns into a whitish gel when cooked.
Lobsters have teeth in their stomachs.
Lobsters aren’t red. They only turn red after being cooked, but in nature, they can be gray, green, blue, or yellow!
Lobsters have great swimming abilities: they can swim forward and backward. When they’re alarmed, they swim reverse by rapidly curling and uncurling their tails.
Lobsters have no lungs and no vocal cords, so it’s a myth that lobsters scream when you put them in hot water.
Lobsters have highly developed senses of smell and taste, but poor eyesight.
Lobsters may be a fancy plate today but they were once considered poor people’s food. In Colonial times, it was fed to pigs and goats.
Prisoners used to eat lobster because it was plentiful and cheap.
Maine is famous for producing the most lobsters, and, some would claim, the best.
Lobster trapping became popular in the mid-19th century, before that they were originally gathered by hand.
You can catch lobsters by hand, just be sure to wear heavy-duty gloves!
A very large lobster could break your finger. Yes, their claws are very strong!
Lobsters have three pairs of antennas and they use them as sensors.
In order to captain their own boat, lobstermen in Maine are required to complete a two-year apprenticeship.
To get their own license, apprentice lobstermen can be on a waiting list for 10 years!
Wondering what’s that black line you see on the lobster’s tail? The answer is unfertilized eggs, and yes, you can eat them.
Depending on how warm the water is, lobsters will carry their eggs for up to a year.
Lobsters usually feed on clams, snails, and crabs.
Lobsters live at the bottom of the ocean.
The design of the lobster pot has not changed much in the last 200 years.
It is illegal to boil lobsters in some places, such as the village of Reggio Emilia in Italy.
When lobsters mate, the eggs aren’t fertilized right away. The female carries the male’s sperm and chooses when to fertilize her eggs.
When food is scarce, lobsters can dine on smaller lobsters.