THE ANIMAL FILES

Norway lobster

Nephrops norvegicus

For this lobster, the right mud is an address.

Norway lobsters build burrows in muddy sediment, so suitable seabed patches shape their distribution. They spend much of their time in shelter and make short excursions to obtain food.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Norway lobster
Image: Hans Hillewaert · Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Seabed
Muddy sediment rich in fine particles[1]
Shelter
Semi-permanent burrows[1]
Eyes
Distinctive kidney-shaped eyes[1]

A narrow lobster with specialised details

A carapace covers the cephalothorax, behind which lies a segmented abdomen and broad tail fan. The first three pairs of legs carry claws, with the front pair especially elongated. Kidney-shaped compound eyes explain the genus name Nephrops, which combines Greek words associated with kidney and eye.[1]

A map drawn by sediment

Adults favour muddy seabed with substantial silt and clay, where they maintain burrows. Suitable sediment is patchy, so their broad northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean range does not mean continuous occupancy everywhere.[1]

Short trips from a fixed shelter

Norway lobsters often remain inside a burrow or at its entrance, leaving to forage or mate. They take active prey such as worms and fish and also scavenge. Claws and walking legs capture and pass food forward, so feeding involves several appendages rather than only the conspicuous long pincers.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Does a marine species occupy every part of its mapped range?

No. This lobster needs particular sediments for its burrows. Unsuitable stretches separate suitable patches, so a broad geographic range can contain many places where the species does not establish a home.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why might two nearby seabeds support different numbers of lobsters?

Reveal the explanation

Distance alone does not describe habitat quality. A muddy patch suitable for a burrow offers something that a neighbouring unsuitable substrate does not, even when both locations share the same surrounding sea.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Norway lobster (fixed revision; adapted and translated)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Nephrops norvegicus (identity and classification)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

European lobsterTwo claws, two different kinds of work.Homarus gammarus ↗Noble crayfishA night forager with a sheltered daytime address.Astacus astacus ↗European green crabA green crab can be red—and still be the same species.Carcinus maenas ↗