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Originally Posted by tang daddy
Brad, I was basing my guesses on shelf life in captivity. Basically a 1 ft lobster is not going to thrive in a shoe box. I did a little more searching and it states that lifespan of lobsters are unknown however it says that they may live 15yrs or more.
Can I ask where you found your info on 100+years and who lived so long to document this?
I have heard that turtles and crocidiles may outlive humans but not lobsters please post info on this if you have it thanks.
Life History and Habitat
Life history, including information on the habitat, growth, feeding, and reproduction of a species, is important because it affects how a fishery is managed. - Geographic range: The Caribbean spiny lobster occurs throughout the Caribbean Sea, along the shelf waters of the southeastern United States north to North Carolina, in Bermuda, and south to Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico.
- Habitat: Caribbean spiny lobsters are found from just below the water surface to depths of 1,650 feet. Larvae float in the water column. Post-larvae swim to nearshore environments and settle in dense vegetation, especially among macroalgae. They metamorphose into "algal-stage" juveniles and live within the vegetation until they are about 0.6 to 0.8 inches. They then emerge and take up refuge in crevice shelters provided by large sponges, octocorals (soft corals), and solution holes until they are about 1.4 inches. At about 2 to 3.15 inches, lobsters begin to move from the inshore nursery habitat to coral reefs and other offshore habitats.
- Life span: Maximum age is not well-known. Spiny lobster may live 15 years or more.
- Food: Little is known about the feeding habits of larval stages, but observations suggest they feed on soft-bodied plankton (tiny floating plants and animals). All bottom-dwelling stages of Caribbean spiny lobster feed on mollusks, especially gastropods (snails and slugs) and crustaceans, but will also consume a wide variety of invertebrates.
- Growth rate: Lobsters grow by molting - they vacate their old shells while simultaneously absorbing water, which expands their body size. Molting occurs about 25 times in the first 5 to 7 years of life. Following this cycle, the lobster will weigh approximately 1 pound and reach minimum legal size. A lobster at minimum legal size may then only molt once per year and increase about 15% in length and 40% in weight.
- Maximum size: Spiny lobster can grow to be 3 feet or more in overall body length.
- Reaches reproductive maturity: In the southeastern U.S., females mature at about 2.75 to 3 inches carapace length. In the U.S. Caribbean, females are mature by 3.6 inches carapace length.
- Reproduction: Females have from 500,000 to 1.7 million eggs per spawning. The male deposits sperm packets on the underside of the female. She scratches them to release sperm as the eggs are extruded. The fertilized eggs are attached beneath her tail, at which time the female is referred to as "berried." Eggs hatch in about 4 weeks.
- Spawning season: April through September in the southeastern U.S. and throughout the year in the U.S. Caribbean
- Spawning grounds: In the Florida Keys on offshore reefs
- Migrations: Adults move along shore and offshore seasonally. Caribbean spiny lobsters migrate in single-file lines to deeper water in order to evade the stresses of the cold and turbid waters.
- Predators: Spiny lobster larvae are eaten by fish. Predators of juvenile and adult spiny lobsters include a variety of fish and invertebrates, such as groupers, snappers, sharks, skates, turtles, and octopus.
- Commercial or recreational interest: Both
- Distinguishing characteristics: The spiny lobster has a pair of horns above the eyes, which the American lobster lacks.
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My info is from my older brother back when he was at UBC Marine Biology. I remember he did a paper on lobsters and couldn't shut up about them for weeks
Its based on molting, not someone living 100 years. They molt about 25 times a year or so for the first 4-7 years and then 2 times a year after that. They also grow at the same percentage each time they molt. Lobsters do not stop growing. So they can do the math and figure out age. When you think about, scientists are able to age many, many species without actually living during the same time period. Its done all the time.
So they have found lobsters that based on size would have to have lived close to or around 100 years. Most live more like 15-20 though.
EDIT: Another interesting thing about lobsters is that they do have a nervous system that allows them to feel pain...so boiling them kind of sucks.