Lobsters

Lobsters can be found regulary across the London clay divisons with the most common of these Hoploparia Gammaroides which can be found at most sites.

However the other species of lobsters tend to be much rarer such as Glyphea scabra [Trachysoma scabrum] which can only be found extremely rarely in a few sites such as seasalter.

Complete lobsters are also extremely rare in the London Clay as they are often brocken up into segments. When searching for lobster fossils both the foreshore and the beach should yield results as they are quite notable from their distict black apperance in a beige coloured nodule.

London Clay Species Chart

Image accreditation:

Charbonnier, S., Audo, D., Barriel, V., Garassino, A., Schweigert, G. and Simpson, M. (2015), Phylogeny of fossil and extant glypheid and litogastrid lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda) as revealed by morphological characters. Cladistics, 31: 231-249. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12088

Anatomical terminology.

Cephalothoracic grooves in (a) glypheid and (b) erymid lobsters; (c) regions of the carapace; (d) chelate first pereiopod; (e,f) subchelate first pereiopods showing ventral margin of propodus: (e) without distal spine and (f) with distal spine. Abbreviations: a, branchiocardiac groove; ac, antennal ridge; an, antennal notch; ar, antennal region; as, antennal spine; b, antennal groove; br, branchial region; b1, hepatic groove; c, postcervical groove; cd, cardiac groove; cp, carpus; cr, cardiac region; d, gastro-orbital groove; da, dactylus; ds, distal spine; e1e, cervical groove; gc, gastro-orbital ridge; gr, gastric regions; hr, hepatic region; i, inferior groove; ic, intercervical groove; id, index; ip, intercalated plate; lcd, laterocardiac groove; me, merus; oc, orbital ridge; on, orbital notch; os, orbital spine; pr, propodus; py, pterygostomial region; r, rostrum.