reeflobster vs mantis

[reeferious]

finally went ahead and bought a 4 in(body length) lobster from lfs last friday. b/4 dropping it into sump i heartily fed all 5 or 6 mantis first in case anyone of them had any unhealthy interest toward the lobster. got up couple times during the night to check on wellbeing of my newest addition who had already settled into its own plastic tunnel and was waving its white antennas about. i actually witnessed a wandered too near mantis being lashed across the head making a hasty retreat while a lumbering anemone hermit crab was ignored it's been almost 48 hrs now and this guy is still holding his ground chomping down on shrimp meat and silverside. does anyone has experience keeping reef lobster? life span? specie compatibility? growth size? it's such an interesting fellow i just might end up starting a lobster colony.

[tang daddy]

reef lobster if it's the blue and white stripe up to 14inches, if it's the red/purple 6-7inches

as for life span I tried to search for it but to no avail my guesses a couple years max, so if you got a blue and white stripe gimme a shout when he's full size and ready to be bbq with butter and lemon

[untamed]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

reef lobster if it's the blue and white stripe up to 14inches, if it's the red/purple 6-7inches

as for life span I tried to search for it but to no avail my guesses a couple years max, so if you got a blue and white stripe gimme a shout when he's full size and ready to be bbq with butter and lemon

.

I thought that the lifespan of some lobsters was possibly 100 yrs or more. Do you think these are really different, or am I just plain wrong in what I've heard about old lobsters?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by untamed

.

I thought that the lifespan of some lobsters was possibly 100 yrs or more. Do you think these are really different, or am I just plain wrong in what I've heard about old lobsters?

Most lobsters I believe are 15-20 years but some can live up to 100 scientists have found. So you are right about old lobsters. I am not sure of species though and there are soooo many. FWIW, most species also mate for life.

[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.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

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.

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.

[tang daddy]

Fair enough Justin!!

But I just wanted straight facts like someone keeping it as a pet for over 60 years.

Scientist can assume by culculations of growth length to times of molt to figure out how old that creature is, However maybe the lobsters diet was great kinda like body builders use steriods to become gorillas. so in this case they can grow larger faster like say in 20 years. hence the 100+ years is only a scientific guess and not a serious fact.

Look I'm not trying to dispute that they don't live this long however there is no hard evidence to prove it.

I know people have this long and past that. Atleast with a tree you can count the cross cuts with a lobster we are only going by size and they probally measured size per molt on a species in captivity.....

In the wild maybe they were eating lots more than in captivity anyhow we know what we know so lets all think that yes they can live over 100+years.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

Fair enough Justin!!

But I just wanted straight facts like someone keeping it as a pet for over 60 years.

Scientist can assume by culculations of growth length to times of molt to figure out how old that creature is, However maybe the lobsters diet was great kinda like body builders use steriods to become gorillas. so in this case they can grow larger faster like say in 20 years. hence the 100+ years is only a scientific guess and not a serious fact.

Look I'm not trying to dispute that they don't live this long however there is no hard evidence to prove it.

I know people have this long and past that. Atleast with a tree you can count the cross cuts with a lobster we are only going by size and they probally measured size per molt on a species in captivity.....

In the wild maybe they were eating lots more than in captivity anyhow we know what we know so lets all think that yes they can live over 100+years.

Oh I totally understand where your coming from

I doubt many live 100 years. It does seem they live quite long though! I would say they are not going to live 15 years in an aquarium though. As they grow, most tanks are just going to get way too small. Although I don't know this species, most get very large.

[untamed]

I laughed this evening because there was a quick news story on TV about someone who rescued a really large Atlantic lobster from a restaurant and let him go. The news story suggested that the lobster was over 100 years old...but they offered no detail on how the age was determined.

I hope I didn't imply that I had some expertise in lobster aging...I just mentioned that I had "heard" that lobsters can live for a LONG time. ("heard" it again tonight!) Of course, there are likely to be large differences in lifespan between lobster species.

[Pan]

the lifespan of a lobster is directly proportional to its distance from melted butter...