Lobsters begin life as
tiny individuals whisked away by strong ocean currents. How they manage to
survive is unbelievable, but how they come to be is also an interesting story.
It all starts at the bottom of the ocean, during the summer months, and it
lasts nearly two years before microscopic larvae start floating in the
seawater. It took many studies by several scientists to truly determine what
happens. And we are still not sure if we have the complete story, as lobsters
are very reclusive and spend the majority of their secret lives on the
seafloor. But here is their story, as we know it.
It’s early spring and
the weather is finally warming up. The water temperature in the ocean is also
increasing, and the lobsters feel it. They start a small migration towards the
coast, to be in shallower waters. Females then encounter a number of males
during this trip, and mating season is finally upon them. They will want to
mate with the dominant male in the area, and they know who is the likely
candidate, simply by smelling him. The dominant male is the one winning all the
territorial battles in the neighborhood, and strangely enough, he is able to
alter his urine to smell victorious. Females can detect this smell using their
small antennules, located between the larger antennae, and line up in front of
this male’s rock house to have a short 5-day romantic encounter with him.
If the chemistry is
right between them, the female molts inside the rock house, and the male gently
rolls her over and mates with her while she is still soft. Her new shell will
harden only after a week or so. But having a soft shell enables her to accept
and store his sperm inside a little pocket located outside her shell under her
body. After a few days, the love affair is over, and the female returns to her
own rock house.
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