Lobster clawed

In spite of this, and because of historical reasons, even in academic publications such as this volume, the word lobster is widely used, and we will not be the exception. But be warned we will use clawed lobster, spiny lobster, and... 

Fig. 12.1 Phylogeny of decapod crustaceans, showing that lobster is not a monophyletic grouping, but rather a body form. The clades representing the lobsters that we discuss in this chapter - clawed, spiny and slipper lobsters - are shaded in this figure. Clawed lobsters are more closely related to freshwater crayfishes than spiny and slipper lobsters, which are more closely related to true and hermit crabs, the latter in a group (Anomala) that includes animals also referred to as lobsters. Reproduced with modifications from Dixon et al. (2003). Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands...

Significant to our considerations is that the different lobster types vary in their lifestyles, and this has enormous consequences on the types of information they exchange. This results in an unbalanced amount of information about different species, with most of what is known about agonistic and sexual semiochemicals coming from studies of clawed lobsters, and most of what is known about aggregation and sheltering semiochemicals from studies of spiny lobsters. Nevertheless, we will attempt to compare these two groups wherever possible. 

Two studies on clawed lobsters are inconsistent with the above scenario and with each other (Cowan 1991 Skog 2009). Cowan (1991) reported that the antennules of females, but not males are required for normal mating behavior in H. americanus, while Skog (2009) found that male antennules are necessary for normal mating in... 

In addition, mating behavior in both spiny and slipper lobsters seems to be simpler and faster than in clawed lobsters, a fact that further hinders our ability to collect data (Lipcius et al. 1983). In their 11-month study, Barshaw and Spanier (1994) failed to observe mating between slipper lobsters. 

Overall, results from clawed lobsters paint a picture that urinary chemical cues released by males and detected by females are necessary for the initial location of males by females. Then, when the animals are near each other, females release urinary chemicals that are detected by males, and this drives subsequent behavior. In spiny lobsters, females have been shown to approach tethered males (Raethke et al. 2004), and males have been observed to search for females in the field (Lipcius et al. 1983). More data are needed to establish the precise sequence of events leading to mating in spiny lobsters. 

The social hierarchy of spiny lobsters in naturalistic conditions is more difficult to observe than in clawed lobsters because many species of spiny lobsters are far... 

As seen above, clawed, spiny, and slipper lobsters have very different lifestyles, and this influences how chemicals are used in their behavioral interactions. Clawed lobsters lead mostly solitary lives and do not cohabitate except when mating, a process controlled by sex pheromones (Atema and Cobb 1980). Some spiny lobsters and slipper lobsters, on the other hand, share communal shelters (Berry 1971 Berrill 1975 Cobb 1981 Zimmer-Faust et al. 1985 Spanier and Almog-Shtayer 1992) (Fig. 12.6a), a behavior that improves survival against predation (Eggleston et al. 1990 Mintz et al. 1994 Weiss et al. 2008). These aggregations are... 

STEPHENS F, EVANS L H and JONES B (2003) Disease of mature spiny and clawed lobster, in Evans L H (ed.), A Review of Lobster Diseases, Their Investigation and Pre-disposing Factors. Curtin University of Technology, Perth Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, 42-67. 

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