Editing Lobster (section)

== Ecology ==
Lobsters live in all oceans, on rocky, sandy, or muddy bottoms from the shoreline to beyond the edge of the [[continental shelf]], contingent largely on size and age.<ref name=noaa/> Smaller, younger lobsters are typically found in crevices or in burrows under rocks and do not typically migrate. Larger, older lobsters are more likely to be found in deeper seas, migrating back to shallow waters seasonally.<ref name=noaa>{{Cite web|url= https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/outreach-and-education/fun-facts-about-luscious-lobsters|title=Fun Facts About Luscious Lobsters|website=www.fisheries.noaa.gov|access-date=2023-10-27}}</ref>

Lobsters are omnivores and typically eat live prey such as fish, mollusks, other crustaceans, worms, and some plant life. They scavenge if necessary and are known to resort to [[Cannibalism (zoology)|cannibalism]] in captivity. However, when lobster skin is found in lobster stomachs, this is not necessarily evidence of cannibalism because lobsters eat their shed skin after moulting.<ref name="marinebio">{{cite web |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=533 |title=''Homarus americanus'', Atlantic lobster |access-date=December 27, 2006 |publisher=MarineBio.org |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140303231857/http://www.marinebio.org/species.asp?id=533 |archive-date=March 3, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> While cannibalism was thought to be nonexistent among wild lobster populations, it was observed in 2012 by researchers studying wild lobsters in Maine. These first known instances of lobster cannibalism in the wild are theorized to be attributed to a local [[population explosion]] among lobsters caused by the disappearance of many of the Maine lobsters' natural predators.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lobster-idUSBRE8B21CH20121203 |title=Cruel new fact of crustacean life: lobster cannibalism |first=Jason |last=McLure |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=December 3, 2012 |access-date=December 5, 2012 |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205073727/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/03/us-usa-lobster-idUSBRE8B21CH20121203 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In general, lobsters are {{convert|25|-|50|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long and move by slowly walking on the sea floor. However, they swim backward quickly when they flee by curling and uncurling their [[abdomen]]s. A speed of {{convert|5|m/s|mph|abbr=on}} has been recorded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.osl.gc.ca/homard/en/faq.html |title=The American lobster – frequently asked questions |publisher=St. Lawrence Observatory, [[Fisheries and Oceans Canada]] |date=October 19, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310113207/http://www.osl.gc.ca/homard/en/faq.html |archive-date=March 10, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This is known as the [[caridoid escape reaction]].

Symbiotic animals of the genus ''[[Symbion]]'', the only known member of the phylum [[Cycliophora]], live exclusively on lobster [[gill]]s and mouthparts.<ref name="Obst">{{cite journal | vauthors = Obst M, Funch P, Giribet G | date = 2005-10-17 |title=Hidden diversity and host specificity in cycliophorans: a phylogeographic analysis along the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea |journal=[[Molecular Ecology (journal)|Molecular Ecology]] |pmid=16313603 |volume=14 |issue=14 |pages=4427–4440 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02752.x | bibcode = 2005MolEc..14.4427O | s2cid = 26920982 | issn=0962-1083}}</ref> Different species of ''Symbion'' have been found on the three commercially important lobsters of the North Atlantic Ocean: ''[[Nephrops norvegicus]]'', ''[[Homarus gammarus]]'', and ''[[Homarus americanus]]''.<ref name="Obst" />