Editing Lobster (section)

== Longevity ==
Lobsters live up to an estimated 45 to 50 years in the wild, although determining age is difficult:<ref>{{cite journal |first=T. |last=Wolff |journal=[[Crustaceana]] |volume=34 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1163/156854078X00510 |year=1978 |title=Maximum size of lobsters (''Homarus'') (Decapoda, Nephropidae)|issue=1 |bibcode=1978Crust..34....1W }}</ref> it is typically estimated from size and other variables. Newer techniques may lead to more accurate age estimates.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Canfield|first1=Clarke|title=Lobster age shown by counting its rings like a tree, study reveals|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/lobster-age_n_2215990.html|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=December 22, 2014|date=November 30, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128114012/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/lobster-age_n_2215990.html|archive-date=January 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kilada|first1=Raouf|author2=Bernard Sainte-Marie|author3=Rémy Rochette|author4=Neill Davis|author5=Caroline Vanier|author6=Steven Campana|title=Direct determination of age in shrimps, crabs, and lobsters|journal=Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences|year=2012|volume=69|issue=11|pages=1728–1733|publisher=NRC Research Press, a division of Canadian Science Publishing|doi=10.1139/cjfas-2012-0254|bibcode=2012CJFAS..69.1728K }}</ref><ref name="Fairfield-et-al-2021">{{cite journal | first1=E.|last1=Fairfield | first2=D.S.|last2=Richardson |first3=C.L.|last3=Daniels |first4=C.L.|last4=Butler |first5=E|last5=Bell |first6=M.I.|last6=Taylor|journal=Evolutionary Applications | volume = 14|pages=  2305–2318| year=2021| doi=10.1111/eva.13296| issn=1752-4571| title=Ageing European lobsters (''Homarus gammarus'') using DNA methylation of evolutionarily conserved ribosomal DNA |issue=9 |pmid=34603500 |pmc=8477595 |bibcode=2021EvApp..14.2305F }}</ref>

Research suggests that lobsters may not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age and that older lobsters may be more fertile than younger lobsters.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hestand |first=Zac |date=2016-11-01 |title=The Lobster, A Dystopian Sci-Fi Love Story |journal=Film Criticism |volume=40 |issue=3 |doi=10.3998/fc.13761232.0040.325 |issn=2471-4364|doi-access=free |hdl=2027/spo.13761232.0040.325 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> This longevity may be due to [[telomerase]], an [[enzyme]] that repairs long repetitive sections of [[DNA sequence]]s at the ends of chromosomes, referred to as [[telomere]]s. Telomerase is expressed by most vertebrates during embryonic stages but is generally absent from adult stages of life.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cong YS, Wright WE, Shay JW | title = Human Telomerase and Its Regulation | journal = Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews | volume = 66 | issue = 3 | pages = 407–425 |date = 2002-09-01 | doi = 10.1128/MMBR.66.3.407-425.2002 | pmid=12208997 | pmc=120798 | issn=1092-2172}}</ref> However, unlike most vertebrates, lobsters express telomerase as adults through most tissue, which has been suggested to be related to their longevity.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Telomerase is especially present in green spotted lobsters, whose markings are thought to be produced by the enzyme interacting with their shell pigmentation.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wolfram Klapper |author2=Karen Kühne |author3=Kumud K. Singh |author4=Klaus Heidorn |author5=Reza Parwaresch |author6=Guido Krupp |year=1998 |title=Longevity of lobsters is linked to ubiquitous telomerase expression |journal=[[FEBS Letters]] |volume=439 |issue=1–2 |pages=143–146 |doi=10.1016/S0014-5793(98)01357-X |pmid=9849895|s2cid=33161779 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1998FEBSL.439..143K }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://animals.howstuffworks.com/marine-life/400-pound-lobster.htm/printable |title=Is there a 400-pound lobster out there? |first=Jacob |last=Silverman |publisher=[[howstuffworks]]|date=2007-07-05 }}</ref><ref name="Consider">{{cite magazine |last=Wallace |first=David Foster |author-link=David Foster Wallace |date=August 2004 |title=Consider the Lobster |url=http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Gourmet (magazine)|Gourmet]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917213912/http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster |archive-date=September 17, 2008 |access-date=January 11, 2018}} Reprinted as {{cite book|title=Consider the Lobster and Other Essays|first=David Foster|last=Wallace|publisher=[[Little, Brown & Company]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-316-15611-0|chapter=Consider the Lobster|author-link=David Foster Wallace|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/considerlobster00davi}}</ref> Lobster longevity is limited by their size. [[Moulting]] requires metabolic energy, and the larger the lobster, the more energy is needed; 10 to 15% of lobsters die of exhaustion during moulting, while in older lobsters, moulting ceases and the exoskeleton degrades or collapses entirely, leading to death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dont-listen-to-the-buzz-lobsters-arent-actually-immortal-88450872/?no-ist|title=Don't Listen to the Buzz: Lobsters Aren't Actually Immortal|date=June 3, 2013|last=Koren|first=Marina|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lobsters.org/tlcbio/biology3.html|title=biotemp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211101926/http://www.lobsters.org/tlcbio/biology3.html|archive-date=2015-02-11}}</ref>

Like many decapod crustaceans, lobsters grow throughout life and can add new muscle cells at each moult.<ref>{{cite book |author=C. K. Govind |year=1995 |chapter=Muscles and their innervation |title=Biology of the Lobster ''Homarus americanus'' |editor=Jan Robert Factor |pages=291–312 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |location=San Diego, CA |isbn=978-0-12-247570-2}}</ref> Lobster longevity allows them to reach impressive sizes. According to ''[[Guinness World Records]]'', the largest lobster ever caught was in [[Nova Scotia]], Canada, weighing {{convert|20.15|kg|lb}}.<ref name="Guinness">{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=51451 |publisher=[[Guinness World Records]] |title=Heaviest marine crustacean |access-date=August 3, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528192250/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=51451 |archive-date=May 28, 2006}}</ref>