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A question that we regularly get asked by our visitors, and although there is no simple answer, we hope to offer an insight into lobsters and their growth below.
In the animal kingdom, as a rule pf thumb, age corresponds to size, i.e the older an animal is, the bigger it is. Though many things can effect this rule such as genetics and the environment. Lobsters have another complication as unlike humans, they carry their skeleton on the outside of their body and as such need to shed this external shell (known as an exoskeleton) to grow. As such, lobsters don’t grow continuously, they grow in increments as and when they shed their shell (a process known as moulting). Moulting can be as regular as four times in a month when their very young or as infrequently as every few years when they get older. A female lobster will moult to be able to mate, but then wont moult again until she has carried her babies, as eggs under her tail, for 9 months and released them as larvae.
Although moulting is a necessary process for a lobster to grow, it is a stressful process on their body. Not only that, by moulting, lobsters loose their hard external shell, their protection from things that might want to eat them (predators) and will be left soft for a short period of time after they moult. Lobsters will reharden their shell over time post moult, but this takes a while! As such, when lobsters are in their very early stages of life and moult four times in the space of a month this can be a very challenging time for them! Add this to the fact that they are tiny creatures floating round in the surface waters of the oceans, and things are looking very difficult indeed for lobster babies! This is where we come in, to give mother nature a helping hand in the early part of a lobsters life.
Fun fact: Lobsters can loose limbs, such as their claws or legs, during the moulting process, however have an amazing ability to regrow these once they are out of their old shell!
This is an image of one of our visitor centre residents, Willow. At first sight you might think that there are two Willows, but on the left is Willow and on the right is her moulted shell!
When a lobster moults it loses some of the minerals and proteins from its shell, but they cleverly know to consume their old shell to help replenish these nutrients and this will help them reharden post moult!
The standard size lobsters that fishermen catch in pots is anywhere between 5 and 15 years old. However, Lobsters can grow to a whopping size. The oldest and largest European lobster caught in Fowey, Cornwall. In 1931, the harbour wall was knocked down, only to discover a lobster1.26m in length. It is believed he could have been over 150 years old!! He was named Leonard and an approx life-size guide is displayed in our visitor centre, come and see for yourself!
Large, old lobsters probably still exists, but aren’t seen very frequently . The standard size lobster we get to see is usually restricted by the method that fishermen use to catch them. The size of a lobster pot entrance will dictate the size of lobster that is able to fit inside and as such we infrequently see large lobsters.
We have so much more to learn about lobsters as a species and here at the National Lobster hatchery. our research team are working with University of East Anglia on a lobster aging research project, that will allow us to better understand how lobster age relates to size with a hope that this information could be used to help better manage the fishery. As part of this project, we have lobsters in our visitor centre which were born here at the hatchery in 2016 and study are able to study their growth over time.