Homarus gammarus was first described by Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish taxonomist, in 1758.  It was previously named Homarus vulgaris (= common lobster)
 

Homarus belongs to the same order as crabs, prawns and shrimps: Decapoda, (= ten legs)
 

Most lobsters caught commercially are about 0.7kg and with a total body length (including claws) of about 40 cm
 

The largest ever recorded European Lobster was 1.26 metres long and weighed 9.3 kg.  It was caught in 1931 in Fowey, Cornwall, UK during reconstruction works to a jetty.
 

Large lobsters are still caught occasionally.  This monster was caught in Cornwall in 2001 and sent to a restaurant in London.  Sadly there is no record of its weight but the length is said to be 96cm. The chef did not have the heart to boil it and it was donated to the London Aquarium, which in turn released it into the Plymouth Sound marine conservation area.
 

Lobsters at the minimum commercial size are thought to be around 5-7 years old.  Some of the enormous specimens occasionally caught may be 50 or more years old.
 

The natural range of the European lobster is from Morocco to Northern Norway, including parts of the Mediterranean.
 

Lobsters are caught in baited traps known as pots or creels.  Fishermen use oily fish such as scad as the bait of choice.
 

The closely related Homarus americanus is found in the North-Western Atlantic.  It is larger, (record weight 20.1 kg, size 106 cm), more prolific and supports a large commercial fishery in North-east USA and Eastern Canada.   However connoisseurs prefer the taste and texture of Homarus gammarus.
 

Juvenile European lobsters are incredibly elusive.  Lobster larvae and post-larvae are caught in plankton samples but once around match-stick size the juveniles settle to the bottom they are hardly ever seen.  Sub-adults start appearing in commercial pots at about 15cm body length.  Divers in an EU research project devoted to learn more about juvenile lobster ecology suction-sampled a total of 300 sites spread over Ireland, Italy, Norway and UK.  Not a single juvenile lobster was found,  despite the gear being successful for collecting small Homarus americanus and high densities of similar animals.
 

Farming of lobsters has been a tantalising goal for  aqauculturists.  Research on both sides of the Atlantic on both species in the 1970’s and 1980’s was intensive and gave rise to several expensive pilot scale “farms”.  Great advances were made in terms of larval and juvenile rearing, diets and holding systems.   Sadly, the aggressive and cannibalistic nature of lobsters means that they have to be held individually once over a few months old.  This, together with relatively slow growth, has meant that farming from egg to market remains uneconomic.