Interesting facts

Categorize lobsters:

Kingdom: Anamilia 

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Crustacea 

Order: Decapoda 

Family: Nephropidae 

Genus: Homarus 

Species: americanus

A lobster consists of two main parts. The first part, the cephalothorax, which is made up of the cephalon (the head) and the thorax (the mid-section), is often called the body of the lobster and is covered by a hard shell called the carapace. The second part that makes up the lobster is the abdomen, which is commonly called the tail. The 14 segments that are fused together to make up the cephalothorax are called somites and each somite bears a pair of appendages that are located on different areas of the lobster, usually on either side of the body or on the underside of the body.

The digestive system of the American lobster consists of three stomachs, the foregut, midgut, and the hindgut. The first stomach, the foregut, contains a gastric mill, a set of grinding teeth that can grind food into fine particles. The particles then pass into the midgut glands where the particles are further digested. The midgut glands are actually the tomalley, the yummy green stuff that so many lobster lovers enjoy! Material that is too large to be absorbed is eventually passed into the hindgut and then through to the enlarged rectum and out the anus at the tip of the lobster’s tail.

Live lobsters are not red like the cooked ones you’ve bought at the store or restaurant. The colour of a live lobster does vary among individual lobsters, but most lobsters are either olive green or greenish brown. Orange, reddish, dark green or black speckles are commonly found adorning a live lobster and a bluish colour is often found at the joints of the lobster.The major pigment in a lobster’s shell is astaxanthin, which is bright red in its free state. In a live lobster astaxanthin is chemically bound to proteins that change this colour to a greenish or bluish colour. When a lobster is boiled the heat from the water breaks the bonds that hold this pigment to these proteins and the astaxanthin is released in to its free state. Thus a cooked lobster is bright red and not dark green. 

Food allergy- Lobsters: A lobster allergy is an adverse reaction by the body's immune system to lobsters or food containing lobster. The body's immune system produces immunoglobulin E (IgE - an antibody) and histamine in response to contact with the allergen. The specific symptoms that can result can vary considerably amongst latients from a severe anaphylactic reaction to asthma, abdominal symptoms, eczema or headaches. More detailed information about the symptons, causes, and treatments of Food Allergy -- lobster is available below.

Sources from: 

http://www.rilobstermen.com/lobsters.htm.

http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/f/food_allergy_lobster/intro.htm.