Fun Facts About the Female Lobster (2024)

What’s so special about a female lobster you ask? If you posed the question to her male counterpart, he might say that she’s way tastier than him (nice try, guy). In truth, there are a few interesting tidbits about the female lobster, or “hens” as they’re sometimes referred to when they mature, from taste to reproduction.

Do Female Lobsters Taste Different?

Females do have larger tales while males have larger claws, which could be attributed to mating. Females carry their eggs on their abdomens, while males compete for mating rights by crushing other males’ claws. However, unless you’re eating a lobster that still has its eggs, aka roe, a female lobster tail tastes just the same as a male’s.


Since hens carry their unfertilized eggs around on their abdomens for prolonged periods of time, it’s not uncommon to catch a female on occasion that still has her eggs. If you have the opportunity to try the roe of a female lobster, you might find this coral-colored delicacy less salty and more sweet than other caviar. The usual consensus around roe is that it's absolutely delicious on its own, as well as a fantastic ingredient for seafood sauces.

Where Do Baby Lobsters Come From?

Lady lobsters have a pretty straightforward courtship with their cretaceous hubby, but not one as simplistic as the myth that lobsters mate for life. Instead, the alpha lobster finds his way to the top by battling it out with the other guys in an area where females will be nesting. After he’s successfully smashed enough claws to prove himself, he’ll set up a den near the girls’ nests, per BBC Earth.


A female will then come knocking at his door by urinating some pheromones at the den’s entrance— Ahh, the romance. Subsequently, he’ll welcome her in and allow her to shack up for up to two weeks. During this time, she’ll shed her harder shell to give him easier access, and then grow back her protective layer after the deed has been done.


Female lobsters can carry live sperm for up to two years before deciding to fertilize her eggs. Usually, she’ll hatch her eggs (up to 100,000) within 9-12 months once the waters are warm enough for her larvae to survive, according to NOAA Fisheries. Only about 3% of those little lobsters tend to survive.

How To Tell the Difference Between a Female and Male Lobster?

Aside from the female's larger tail, there are some easier ways to tell their differences from a male. One being they’re extra fins, or swimmerets, on their bellies. This is to help them literally hold on to their eggs— they’re carrying tens of thousands of them on their abdomens after all.


Another way to distinguish a lobster’s gender is specifically by the first pair of swimmerets. Males have harder ones that they use for reproduction while the females’ are softer. This is the most common and easiest way to tell the difference between them.

Freshie’s Lobster Company Brings Fresh Lobster to You

We pride ourselves on serving lobster that is sustainably caught from Maine, so lady lobsters can make sure there’s plenty to go around. Come visit us in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah or Jackson, Wyoming to enjoy shellfish the way it was intended to be— totally fresh and loaded into amazing recipes!

Fun Facts About the Female Lobster (2024)

FAQs

Fun Facts About the Female Lobster? ›

A female lobster mates mostly when she is in the soft-shell

soft-shell
George (hatched approximately 1869) is an American lobster owned briefly by the City Crab and Seafood restaurant in New York City. Captured in December 2008, he was released back into the wild in January 2009. George weighed 20 pounds (9.1 kg), and had an estimated age of 140 years at the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › George_(lobster)
state right after she has shed her shell. Female lobsters can carry live sperm for up to two years. At any time she may decide to fertilize her 3,000-75,000 eggs. By law, a female lobster carrying eggs must be thrown back if it is caught.

Why are female lobsters better? ›

A female will have soft feathery swimmerets while the male's swimmerets will be larger and more rigid. Female lobsters will also contain small eggs called Roe which make them more flavorful.

How many eggs does a female lobster lay? ›

An adult lobster can lay up to 100,000 eggs, depending on the size of the female. The female carries her fertilized eggs externally under her tail, attached to her swimmerets, for a period of 9 to 12 months.

What is a female lobster called? ›

Answer and Explanation: Female lobsters are actually called hens. Once they weigh at least one pound, they're called chickens. Similarly, male lobsters are referred to as co*cks.

Why can't all female lobsters breed? ›

Females bear eggs only once each year and most mature females carry eggs during the egg-bearing season. Lobsters are selective about mates; large males prefer to mate with large females and females also prefer the largest male available. Successful reproduction requires mature male and female lobsters of similar size.

Do all female lobsters lay eggs? ›

Yes, lobsters lay eggs. A freshly-laid lobster egg is the size of the head of a pin (1/16"). A 1-pound female lobster usually carries approximately 8000 eggs. A 9-pound female may carry more than 100,000 eggs.

Are female lobsters better? ›

Not really. Most people agree male and female lobsters are equally tender and tasty. Female lobsters can have roe, which is an internal egg sac, that chefs can use to enrich their recipes. The roe is different than the fertilized eggs that can be found sticking to the outside of the lobster's tail.

Do we only eat female lobsters? ›

Lobster Myth # 3: Female Lobsters are the Best

Females have a slightly wider tail than the male lobster. And adult males have bigger claws. The amount of meat of a male lobster versus female lobster is negligible. In short, there is no taste difference.

How does a female lobster taste? ›

However, unless you're eating a lobster that still has its eggs, aka roe, a female lobster tail tastes just the same as a male's. Since hens carry their unfertilized eggs around on their abdomens for prolonged periods of time, it's not uncommon to catch a female on occasion that still has her eggs.

What are the little red balls in lobster? ›

If you have a female lobster, you'll see red balls inside a cooked lobster. These are immature eggs called roe and are naturally black. If the eggs are black and not red when you are ready to eat your lobster, that means the lobster needs to be cooked further.

What do you call a baby lobster? ›

Do female lobsters mate for life? ›

However, it turns out everything we thought we knew about crustacean commitment is a lie. "Lobsters, by nature, are not monogamous and do not pair for life," Curt Brown, Ready Seafood's in-house marine biologist, said in a statement to E! News.

What is a blind lobster? ›

(Tin-Yam Chan/COMARGE Census of Marine Life) This new species of lobster is blind—an adaptation to deep-sea life—and has very bizarre claws, or chelipeds. It was discovered about 300 meters (984 feet) deep in the Philippine Sea by a Census of Marine Life expedition.

What is poor man's lobster called? ›

Monkfish is groundfish, meaning it swims and feeds along the bottom of the ocean. It's known to some as "the poor man's lobster" because of its firm, sweet, and delicious taste similar to lobster tails, and to some as "all mouth", because most of the fish is taken up by the head and most of the head is mouth.

What is a 1 pound lobster called? ›

A: Chix are one-pound lobsters. Culls are what lobstermen nickname any size lobster that has one claw. Sometimes, culls have two claws that have not grown to full size.

How many lobsters are killed each year? ›

Sadly, many lobsters don't survive their most formidable predator: humans, who consume tens of millions of them each year in the United States alone.

How big is a lobster's brain? ›

Not that there are any standards for intelligence in lobsters but their brains are no larger than the tip of a ballpoint pen, about the same size as a grasshoppers', so you can make your own conclusions. It may be why they are sometimes called “bugs”.

How old is the oldest lobster? ›

was in excess of 130 years old. Yes, apparently lobsters can live for a very long time. Scientists have found that lobsters don't show signs of aging, which could mean that a lobster may live forever if it's not killed or malnourished. The oldest captive lobster on record was 140 years of age.

How many stomachs does a lobster have? ›

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.

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