🦀American lobster
The American lobster is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. It is also known as Atlantic lobster, Canadian lobster, northern lobster, Canadian Reds, or Maine lobster. It is sometimes called the true lobster or common lobster, but those names are ambiguous. It can reach a body length of 64 cm (25 in), and a mass of over 20 kilograms (44 lb), making it not only the heaviest crustacean in the world, but also the heaviest of all living arthropod species. Its closest relative is the European lobster Homarus gammarus, which can be distinguished by its coloration and the lack of spines on the underside of the rostrum. American lobsters are usually bluish green to brown with red spines, but several color variations have been observed.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2011.
- Body mass
- 1.69 kg
- Body length
- 0.25 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 100 years
Everything we know about the American lobster
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass1.69 kgmaximum recordedSeaLifeBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.
Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Body length0.25 mtypical adult, total lengthSeaLifeBaseOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Figures vary
- 1.14 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Maximum lifespan100 yearsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Volume l1.7 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for American lobster yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumArthropoda
- ›classMalacostraca
- ›orderDecapoda
- ›familyNephropidae
- ›genusHomarus
- ›speciesHomarus americanus
- classCrabs, shrimp & kin · Malacostraca
- orderCrabs, lobsters & shrimp · Decapoda
- superfamilyNephropoidea
- genusHomarus
All 10 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumArthropoda
- classCrabs, shrimp & kin · Malacostraca
- subclassEumalacostraca
- superorderEucarida
- orderCrabs, lobsters & shrimp · Decapoda
- suborderPleocyemata
- infraorderAstacidea
- superfamilyNephropoidea
- genusHomarus
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