Homarus gammarus   (Linnaeus, 1758)

European lobster

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Homarus gammarus  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos 
 | All pictures | Google image |
Image of Homarus gammarus (European lobster)
Homarus gammarus

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Malacostraca | Decapoda | Nephropidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 150 m (Ref. 4), usually ? - 50 m (Ref. 4).  Subtropical, preferred 12°C (Ref. 107945); 69°N - 29°N, 28°W - 32°E (Ref. 4)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea. Not in east of Crete and in the Baltic Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 8.9, range 8 - 8.3 cm Max length : 65.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 441); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 441); max. published weight: 6.0 kg (Ref. 4); max. reported age: 72 years (Ref. 81081)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Common total length: 23 to 50 cm. Occurs on the continental shelf at depths of 0 to 150 m, usually not deeper than 50 m. Found on hard substrates such as rock or hard mud. Nocturnal and territorial living in holes or crevices. Females with eggs are usually found throughout the year. The eggs are laid around July and carried for 10 to 11 months (Ref. 4). Indiscriminate scavengers, omnivorous or carnivorous. Feeds primarily on malacostracan crustaceans, gastropod mollusks, and polychaete annelids; but diet known to include carrion, echinoderms, lamellibranchs and plant matter (Ref. 96319).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Females with eggs are usually found throughout the year. The eggs are laid around July and carried for 10 to 11 months (Ref. 4). Coupling occurs a few days after the female molts (Ref. 80921).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Holthuis, L.B. 1991. (Ref. 4)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 05 December 2009

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: experimental
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 7.7 - 13.3, mean 10.4 (based on 494 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.79-1.0; Fec=13,000).
Prior r = 0.37, 95% CL = 0.25 - 0.56, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Moderate to high vulnerability (46 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.
Nutrients: Calcium = 109 [35, 184] mg/100g; Iron = 1.59 [1.21, 1.97] mg/100g; Protein = 20.2 [19.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.285 [0.185, 0.386] g/100g; Selenium = 48.3 [-31.7, 128.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 1.79 [1.17, 2.40] mg/100g (wet weight).