Michelle Urban, age 10, of Lake Charles, La., for her question:
HOW LONG DOES A LOBSTER LIVE?
A lobster is a hard shelled animal that lives on the bottom of the ocean near the shore. Lobsters are found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They live about 15 years.
A female lobster usually lays eggs once every two years. And she may lay 5,000 to 100,000 or more eggs at a time. The number varies with her size and age.
The female lobster carries her eggs under the curve of her tail for 11 to 12 months. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the lobster shakes the young out of their eggshells.
Newborn lobsters are about one eighth of an inch long. They rise to the surface and drift and swim for three to five weeks. At this time, they are easy prey for sea birds, fish and other enemies. But this is part of nature's plan. It certainly could be a problem if 100,000 young lobsters survived from every female on the bottom of the ocean.
The young lobsters that do survive sink back to the ocean bottom where they spend the rest of their 15 years of life. Fifteen years, that is, unless an enemy comes along.
Lobsters molt or cast off their shells as they grow. The animal loses its first shell two days after hatching and molts three more times during the first month.
When molting, the lobster's body gives off a substance that softens the shell. Then, by expanding its muscles, the lobster splits the shell and steps out of it. This whole process takes about 15 minutes. The new shell, which had formed under the old one, is soft and gives the lobster no protection. The animal hides from its enemies until the new shell hardens.
A lobster has two large claws that reach out in front and are almost as long as its body. The lobster's tail spreads out behind like a fan. The shells of most kinds of lobsters are dark green or dark blue and have spots on them. The shells turn bright red when the lobsters are cooked.
Lobsters are in an animal group without backbones called crustaceans.
A lobster has two pairs of antennae on its head. The animal's eyes are on the ends of a pair of slender, jointed organs called "stalks." Lobsters have compound eyes that consist of hundreds of lenses joined to search for food and to watch for enemies.
The animal has five pairs of jointed legs. Four pairs are thin and are used for walking. The fifth pair, which extends in front of the head, are thick and end in large claws. One of the claws is heavy and has thick teeth to crush prey. The other claw is smaller and has sharp teeth to tear food apart.
All lobsters do not have the heavy claw on the same side. Some are "right handed" and others are "left handed."
The lobster lives on the bottom of the ocean near shore and hides in holes or under rocks at depths of 6 to 120 feet. It sits in its burrow all day, waving its feelers outside the entrance and holding its claws ready to pounce on any prey that comes near.
At night the lobster walks along the ocean bottom looking for food. It eats crabs, snails, small fish and other lobsters.