Body

Lobsters are invertebrates with a hard protective exoskeleton.^[5] Like most arthropods, lobsters must shed to grow, which leaves them vulnerable. During the shedding process, several species change color. Lobsters have eight walking legs; the front three pairs bear claws, the first of which are larger than the others. The front pincers are also biologically considered legs, so they belong in the order Decapods ("ten-footed").^[6] Although lobsters are largely bilaterally symmetrical like most other arthropods, some genera possess unequal, specialized claws.

Lobster anatomy includes two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the abdomen. The cephalothorax fuses the head and the thorax, both of which are covered by a chitinous carapace. The lobster's head bears antennae, antennules, mandibles, the first and second maxillae. The head also bears the (usually stalked) compound eyes. Because lobsters live in murky environments at the bottom of the ocean, they mostly use their antennae as sensors. The lobster eye has a reflective structure above a convex retina. In contrast, most complex eyes use refractive ray concentrators (lenses) and a concave retina.^[7] The lobster's thorax is composed of maxillipeds, appendages that function primarily as mouthparts, and pereiopods, appendages that serve for walking and for gathering food. The abdomen includes pleopods (also known as swimmerets), used for swimming, as well as the tail fan, composed of uropods and the telson.

Lobsters, like snails and spiders, have blue blood due to the presence of hemocyanin, which contains copper.^[8] In contrast, vertebrates, and many other animals have red blood from iron-rich hemoglobin. Lobsters possess a green hepatopancreas, called the tomalley by chefs, which functions as the animal's liver and pancreas.^[9]

Lobsters of the family Nephropidae are similar in overall form to several other related groups. They differ from freshwater crayfish in lacking the joint between the last two segments of the thorax,^[10] and they differ from the reef lobsters of the family Enoplometopidae in having full claws on the first three pairs of legs, rather than just one.^[10] The distinctions from fossil families such as the Chilenophoberidae are based on the pattern of grooves on the carapace.^[10]

Analysis of the neural gene complement revealed extraordinary development of the chemosensory machinery, including a profound diversification of ligand-gated ion channels and secretory molecules.^[11]

Coloring

Typically, lobsters are dark colored, either bluish-green or greenish-brown, to blend in with the ocean floor, but they can be found in many colors.^[12][13] Lobsters with atypical coloring are extremely rare, accounting for only a few of the millions caught every year, and due to their rarity, they usually are not eaten, instead being released back into the wild or donated to aquariums. Often, in cases of atypical coloring, there is a genetic factor, such as albinism or hermaphroditism. Special coloring does not appear to affect the lobster's taste once cooked; except for albinos, all lobsters possess astaxanthin, which is responsible for the bright red color lobsters turn after being cooked.^[14]

History

Lobster rolls in Kent, England

Lobster, Crab, and a Cucumber by William Henry Hunt (watercolour, 1826 or 1827)

Lobster, Japanese silk painting by Nagasawa Rosetsu (長沢芦雪), 18th century

Humans are claimed to have eaten lobster since early history. Large piles of lobster shells near areas populated by fishing communities attest to the crustacean's extreme popularity during this period. Evidence indicates that lobster was being consumed as a regular food product in fishing communities along the shores of Britain,^[60] South Africa,^[60] Australia, and Papua New Guinea years ago. Lobster became a significant source of nutrients among European coastal dwellers. Historians suggest lobster was an important secondary food source for most European coastal dwellers, and it was a primary food source for coastal communities in Britain during this time.^[60]

Lobster became a popular mid-range delicacy during the mid to late Roman period. The price of lobster could vary widely due to various factors, but evidence indicates that lobster was regularly transported inland over long distances to meet popular demand. A mosaic found in the ruins of Pompeii suggests that the spiny lobster was of considerable interest to the Roman population during the early imperial period.^[61]

Lobster was a popular food among the Moche people of Peru between 50 CE and 800 CE. Besides its use as food, lobster shells were also used to create a light pink dye, ornaments, and tools. A mass-produced lobster-shaped effigy vessel dated to this period attests to lobster's popularity at this time, though the purpose of this vessel has not been identified.^[62]

The Viking period saw an increase in lobster and other shellfish consumption among northern Europeans. This can be attributed to the overall increase in marine activity due to the development of better boats and the increasing cultural investment in building ships and training sailors. The consumption of marine life went up overall in this period, and the consumption of lobster went up in accordance with this general trend.^[63]

Unlike fish, however, lobster had to be cooked within two days of leaving salt water, limiting the availability of lobster to inland dwellers. Thus lobster, more than fish, became a food primarily available to the relatively well-off, at least among non-coastal dwellers.^[64]

Lobster is first mentioned in cookbooks during the medieval period. Le Viandier de Taillevent, a French recipe collection written around 1300, suggests that lobster (also called saltwater crayfish) be “Cooked in wine and water, or in the oven; eaten in vinegar.”^[65] Le Viandier de Taillevent is considered to be one of the first “haute cuisine” cookbooks, advising on how to cook meals that would have been quite elaborate for the period and making usage of expensive and hard to obtain ingredients. Though the original edition, which includes the recipe for lobster, was published before the birth of French court cook Guillaume Tirel, Tirel later expanded and republished this recipe collection, suggesting that the recipes included in both editions were popular among the highest circles of French nobility, including King Philip VI.^[66] The inclusion of a lobster recipe in this cookbook, especially one which does not make use of other more expensive ingredients, attests to the popularity of lobster among the wealthy.

The French household guidebook Le Ménagier de Paris, published in 1393, includes no less than five recipes including lobster, which vary in elaboration.^[67] A guidebook intended to provide advice for women running upper-class households, Le Ménagier de Paris is similar to its predecessor in that it indicates the popularity of lobster as a food among the upper classes.^[68]

That lobster was first mentioned in cookbooks during the 1300s and only mentioned in two during this century should not be taken as an implication that lobster was not widely consumed before or during this time. Recipe collections were virtually non-existent before the 1300s, and only a handful exist from the medieval period.

During the early 1400s, lobster was still a popular dish among the upper classes. During this time, influential households used the variety and variation of species served at feasts to display wealth and prestige. Lobster was commonly found among these spreads, indicating that it continued to be held in high esteem among the wealthy. In one notable instance, the Bishop of Salisbury offered at least 42 kinds of crustaceans and fish at his feasts over nine months, including several varieties of lobster. However, lobster was not a food exclusively accessed by the wealthy. The general population living on the coasts made use of the various food sources provided by the ocean, and shellfish especially became a more popular source of nutrition. Among the general population, lobster was generally eaten boiled during the mid-15th century, but the influence of the cuisine of higher society can be seen in that it was now also regularly eaten cold with vinegar. The inland peasantry would still have generally been unfamiliar with lobster during this time.^[69]

Lobster continued to be eaten as a delicacy and a general staple food among coastal communities until the late 17th century. During this time, the influence of the Church and the government regulating and sometimes banning meat consumption during certain periods continued to encourage the popularity of seafood, especially shellfish, as a meat alternative among all classes. Throughout this period, lobster was eaten fresh, pickled, and salted. From the late 17th century onward, developments in fishing, transportation, and cooking technology allowed lobster to more easily make its way inland, and the variety of dishes involving lobster and cooking techniques used with the ingredient expanded.^[70] However, these developments coincided with a decrease in the lobster population, and lobster increasingly became a delicacy food, valued among the rich as a status symbol and less likely to be found in the diet of the general population.^[71]

The American lobster was not originally popular among European colonists in North America. This was partially due to the European inlander's association of lobster with barely edible salted seafood and partially due to a cultural opinion that seafood was a lesser alternative to meat that did not provide the taste or nutrients desired. It was also due to the extreme abundance of lobster at the time of the colonists' arrival, which contributed to a general perception of lobster as an undesirable peasant food.^[72] The American lobster did not achieve popularity until the mid-19th century when New Yorkers and Bostonians developed a taste for it, and commercial lobster fisheries only flourished after the development of the lobster smack,^[73] a custom-made boat with open holding wells on the deck to keep the lobsters alive during transport.^[74]

Before this time, lobster was considered a poverty food or as a food for indentured servants or lower members of society in Maine, Massachusetts, and the Canadian Maritimes. Some servants specified in employment agreements that they would not eat lobster more than twice per week,^[75] however there is limited evidence for this.^[76][77] Lobster was also commonly served in prisons, much to the displeasure of inmates.^[78] American lobster was initially deemed worthy only of being used as fertilizer or fish bait, and until well into the 20th century, it was not viewed as more than a low-priced canned staple food.^[79]

As a crustacean, lobster remains a taboo food in the dietary laws of Judaism and certain streams of Islam.^{[note 1][80]}

Grading

Caught lobsters are graded as new-shell, hard-shell, or old-shell. Because lobsters that have recently shed their shells are the most delicate, an inverse relationship exists between the price of American lobster and its flavor. New-shell lobsters have paper-thin shells and a worse meat-to-shell ratio, but the meat is very sweet. However, the lobsters are so delicate that even transport to Boston almost kills them, making the market for new-shell lobsters strictly local to the fishing towns where they are offloaded. Hard-shell lobsters with firm shells but less sweet meat can survive shipping to Boston, New York, and even Los Angeles, so they command a higher price than new-shell lobsters. Meanwhile, old-shell lobsters, which have not shed since the previous season and have a coarser flavor, can be air-shipped anywhere in the world and arrive alive, making them the most expensive.

Killing methods and animal welfare

Lobsters in a tank at a fish market

Several methods are used for killing lobsters. The most common way of killing lobsters is by placing them live in boiling water, sometimes after being placed in a freezer for a period. Another method is to split the lobster or sever the body in half lengthwise. Lobsters may also be killed or immobilized immediately before boiling by a stab into the brain (pithing), in the belief that this will stop suffering. However, a lobster's brain operates from not one but several ganglia, and disabling only the frontal ganglion does not usually result in death.^[81] The boiling method is illegal in some places, such as in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where offenders face fines up to €495.^[82] Lobsters can be killed by electrocution prior to cooking with a device called the CrustaStun.^[83] The Swiss government banned boiling lobster live without stunning them first.^[84] Since March 2018, lobsters in Switzerland need to be knocked out, or killed instantly, before they are prepared. They also receive other forms of protection while in transit.^[85][86]