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description
The european lobster also know as"Homarus gammarus" is a species of clawed lobster from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Black Sea. It is closely related to the American lobster.Homarus is one of three extant genera of clawed lobsters to show dimorphism between claws – a specialisation into a crushing claw and a cutting claw. The other similar genera are Nephrops, which is much more slender, and has grooves along the claws and the abdomen, and Homarinus, the Cape lobster from South Africa, which is even smaller, and has hairy claws.Mating in Homarus is complex and is accompanied by a number of courtship behaviours.
The eggs generally hatch in the spring as a pre-larva, which rapidly develops into the first larval phase.This is followed by three zoeal phases, the total duration of which can vary from two weeks to two months, depending on the temperature. At the following moult, the young animal becomes a post-larva, with a gross form resembling the adult lobster. Although it can swim, using its pleopods, the post-larva soon settles to the bottom and lives as a juvenile for 3–5 years.
As adults, Homarus species moult increasingly infrequently. The size at sexual maturity varies with temperature; it is around 70 mm (2.8 in) for female H. americanus in southern New England, but 100 mm (3.9 in) around the Bay of Fundy. In H. gammarus, the size at sexual maturity is less well defined, but is in the range 80–140 mm (3.1–5.5 in).
their Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Family: Nephropidae
Genus: Homarus
species: Astacus marinus
evolution/species
The two extant species of Homarus are both found in the North Atlantic Ocean. H. americanus is found from Labrador to North Carolina in the western North Atlantic, while H. gammarus is found from Arctic Norway to Morocco, including the British Isles and the Mediterranean Sea.
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