Crabs, lobsters and shrimp now have a family tree dating 500 million years

APRIL 24, 2019

by Chrystian Tejedor, Florida International University

Researchers have for the first time traced the roots of crabs, lobsters and shrimp to create the family tree of crustaceans people love to eat.

The tree shows the 450-million-year evolution of these 10-legged decapods, when lobsters and crabs each diversified from a single evolutionary origin. Groups of shrimpevolved earlier.

The findings are part of a massive family tree project where researchers resolved the deep evolutionary relationships between crabs, shrimp and lobsters. The discoveries made by analyzing more than 400 genes from 94 species could also inform conservation policies to ensure their longevity.

"Understanding the origins of biodiversity across half a billion years in groups that are extremely ecologically and economically important is fascinating," said FIU marine sciences professor Heather Bracken-Grissom, the anchor author of the study. "This is extremely important since studying and preserving biodiversity needs to be at the forefront of our efforts in the biological sciences and across humanity"

The boom of diversification for crabs, lobsters and shrimp may coincide with the spread of modern reef-building corals, Bracken-Grissom said. It is possible the emergence of reef-building corals provided new habits for decapods to colonize and diversify, leading to the emergence of several new lineages after the mass extinction of life on Earth 250 million years ago.

While the study produced the largest amount of genetic information about decapods, more work remains to be done including the addition of more species to better understand species-level relationships. The researchers hope the newly generated genomic resources will be used by others interested in decapod crustaceans for years to come.

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Drastic New England Lobster Decline May Be Linked to Warmer Waters

By Samantha-Rae Tuthill, AccuWeather.com | June 10, 2014 12:45pm ET

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

Despite booming populations of adult lobsters, marine biologists and fisheries along the northern Atlantic coast of the United States are concerned about a dramatic population decline for young larval lobsters. Scientists searching for the cause of this drop see signs that ocean currents and warmer ocean waters are possible culprits.

Dr. Rick Wahle, research professor for the School of Marine Science at the University of Maine and founder of the American Lobster Settlement Index, has been tracking lobster populations since 1989. The scope of his study today tracks the waters in New England and Atlantic Canada.

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Lobster Shell Disease Creeping Northward To Maine

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A shell disease that has plagued the southern New England lobster industry for years by making lobsters unsightly and in some cases unmarketable appears to be creeping northward to the lobster-rich grounds off the coast of Maine.

The number of lobsters suffering from shell disease remains tiny in Maine — only three out of every 1,000 lobsters sampled last year had the disease. But scientists and lobstermen are concerned because the prevalence grew fivefold from 2010 to 2012.

The disease, which is not harmful to humans, first became noticeable in southern New England waters in the 1990s. About one in every three or four lobsters caught in waters off southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island in recent years has been diseased.

Carl Wilson, the state lobster biologist with the Department of Marine Resources, said people should be concerned — but not alarmed — by the numbers. People who look only at the percentage increase could get spooked and say, "Oh, my god, that's a huge increase," he said.

"But it's not, considering all the sampling we have and all the caveats of our sampling design," Wilson said. "But it's something we are watching."

Lobster is one of the most important fisheries in Maine and New England, valued at more than $400 million to fishermen and hundreds of millions more to coastal communities.

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27-pound lobster: They call this monster crustacean Rocky

By Amy Hubbard

February 23, 2012, 12:46 p.m.

A 27-pound lobster dubbed Rocky was donated to the Maine State Aquarium. Aquarium director Aimee Hayden-Rodriques holds the 40-inch-long crustacean. (Maine State Aquarium / Reuters )

Robert Malone went fishing for shrimp and pulled in a surprise: a 27-pound Maine lobster that could never be viewed as shrimpy.

The beast, caught in the vicinity of Rockland, Maine, was dubbed Rocky, reports the Associated Press. Of course, the size of the lobster's fearsome claws also bring to mind the meaty fists of that boxer named Balboa.

Malone opted to donate the nearly 40-inch-long crustacean to the Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay Harbor, the AP says. That's pretty magnanimous -- depending on how you look at it.

Lobster prices aren't what they once were, having fallen along with the economy around 2008, Reuters reports. But they were above $3.30 a pound in 2010, and the Maine lobster industry is bubbling over what looks to be a record haul in 2011, the new site says.

And, as the AP reported last year, the harvest in 2010 was one to exclaim over, with 93.4 million pounds valued at $308 million.

By the pound, Rocky should be a valuable lobster. But this crustacean's size could indicate a long life. And geezer lobsters don't make great eating.

Times Food Editor Russ Parsons on Thursday said he would avoid making dinner out of Rocky.

"The generally accepted wisdom on lobsters is that any time you get above, say, 3 pounds, bigger is certainly not better," Parsons said. "These are old beasts and they tend to be tough. An aquarium is almost certainly its highest and best use. Preferably a very large aquarium."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-27pound-lobster-20120223%2c0%2c2182303.story

'Electric' blue lobster finds new home at London Aquarium after being saved

A rare 'electric' blue lobster has been rescued from being sold to a hungry punter and will instead be put on display at the London Aquarium.

The deep-blue-coloured crustacean, which was caught by fishermen off the east coast of Scotland, was found by Rex Goldsmith on sale at Billingsgate market in London.
'It's the most striking blue lobster I have seen in my 30 years in the business and was too nice to put in a pot and boil,' said Goldsmith.

Shocked by the intense colour of the lobster, Rex decided to buy it and take it home with him to inform researchers at the National History Museum.

'I had a word with the seller and we both agreed on how nice it looked. He sold it to me for £10, which is the normal price for a lobster that size.'

The researchers believe the lobster gained its blue exterior because of a possible rare genetic alteration. Coming from a similar species of lobster to the homarus americanus of the US, the creature should have been born with a much darker blue exoskeleton.

This particular species of lobster is found in British waters as well as in Norway, the Mediterranean, Crete and Morocco.
Yet to be given a proper name, Mr Goldsmith's find will now be on display at the London Aquarium.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/881934-electric-blue-lobster-finds-new-home-at-london-aquarium-after-being-saved#ixzz1eWtqI0LL

Youppi, Rare Orange Lobster, Dies

MONTREAL - It wasn't boiling water but possibly a variation in temperature in his saltwater tank that wound up cooking Youpi, the celebrity lobster.

Plans are underway now to celebrate the short, mostly uneventful life of the sea creature whose beady, unblinking eyes warmed the hearts of Canadians, some of whom perhaps dreamed only of seeing him on their plate.

He earned minor national fame, grabbing news headlines for the genetic defect that turned him a bright orange — a one-in-10-million hue for a living lobster.

An afficionado of pretty much any shrimp that was fed to him, the three-pound Youpi became a truly heavenly lobster on Nov. 4.

"It could have been a variation in temperature" in his tank, said Guylaine Frechette, director of the nature centre that gave him a home. She added that the exact cause of his demise hasn't been determined.

But Youpi won't be forgotten.

He'll be celebrated in a year-long sendoff with the lobster laid out on display, allowing people to pay their respects — or just to learn something about lobsters.

Read more here ...

Claw Machines In St. Paul Bars Boast Live Lobsters

May 5, 2011 5:02 PM

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The claw machines in two St. Paul bars boast something quite different than the typical stuffed animal — they’ve got live lobsters.

For $2 a pop, customers at Shamrocks Grill and Pub can try their hand at winning their very own lobster. If they do, the kitchen staff cooks it for them and serves it with broccoli and bread.

But Minnesota Public Radio reports that can quickly turn into $20, as the lobsters are difficult to catch.

There’s another one at Tiffany Sports Lounge in St. Paul, and the distributor has plans for two more, including one at Burrito Loco in Minneapolis.

Although similar operations have drawn complaints from animal rights groups in other states, distributor Cliff Hentz said they’re treated no differently than the lobsters at Red Lobster.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/05/05/claw-machines-in-st-paul-bars-boast-live-lobsters/

Monster Lobster Caught Off Miami Beach

Diver Needed Both Hands To Snag Bug

POSTED: Sunday, September 12, 2010
UPDATED: 10:37 am EDT September 12, 2010

MIAMI BEACH, FL -- A lobster hunter made the catch of his life off Miami Beach.

He snagged a huge lobster that weighed in at more than 9 pounds.

The spiny lobster also measured more than 2 feet long.

Max Ramos caught the lobster.

He said he had to put it into a bear hug to get it into his boat.

http://www.justnews.com/news/24976305/detail.html

Part-time fisherman captures 'monster lobster' off Devon coast

A part-time fisherman captured one of the biggest lobsters ever caught in British waters – but spared the creature's life because he thought it looked too old to eat.

By Matthew Moore
Published: 1:55PM GMT 14 Dec 2009

Simon Sharp, 42, noticed the large crustacean had become caught in his nets while fishing for Dover sole off the coast of Dartmouth in Devon.

After hauling the lobster on board with the help of his wife, Mr Sharp found that it stretched more than three feet from the tip of its claw to the end of its tail.

The claws themselves were 14 inches long and eight inches wide – powerful enough to take off a human hand.

But after taking photos of the lobster on his mobile phone, the boat builder decided to throw it back into the sea. Given the animal's size, experts say it could have been up to 100 years old.

"It was a great big barnacled old thing but it looked very old and sluggish so we decided it had to go back in quickly," Mr Sharp said.

"It was no good for eating – it would be as tough as old boots."

A spokeswoman from the Marine Conservation Society praised the couple for releasing their catch.

"Older lobsters are really important to the breeding stock, as they actually put more energy into reproduction as they get older, and it's good to keep them going. Lobsters are often, like cod, over-fished," she said.

The biggest lobster ever caught in British waters, off Fowey in Cornwall in 1931, was more than four feet long, not including its claws, and weighed 1st 6lb.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6810249/Part-time-fisherman-captures-monster-lobster-off-Devon-coast.html

Lobster’s home goes up with bomb explosion

Right: HOMELESS? The lobster’s claw is visible in the picture

Thursday 8th October 2009

By James Morton

IT may have provided a spectacular spectacle in Swanage Bay, but the detonation of a Second World War bomb has bad news for one member of the Purbeck community.

A lone lobster that had set up home in the 600lb device has been left homeless by the blast.
Divers who discovered the explosive off Ballard Point on Tuesday hope the crustacean managed to relocate before disposal experts came to discharge it.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: “The lobster had set up home inside the bomb.

“We sincerely hope it managed to escape before the detonation.”

Divers chanced upon the device and its inhabitant on a leisure dive.

They photographed it and notified the coastguard, who contacted the bomb disposal team.

The bomb was identified as a Second World War ground mine, which had lain undiscovered on the seabed for more than 60 years. The blast at lunchtime on Wednesday sent a 30ft plume of water into the air and shook the ground around Swanage.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4672965.Lobster___s_home_goes_up_with_bomb_explosion/

(Submitted by Mark North)

Lobster Bombs

PORTLAND, Maine - A congresswoman says the Coast Guard has rescinded a rule that prohibited lobstermen from fishing in the waters around a remote Maine island.

Rep. Chellie Pingree says Coast Guard officials told her Tuesday night that they had withdrawn the rule making waters around Seal Island off-limits. Officials had been concerned about unexploded bombs left over from the mid-20th century when the Navy used the island as an aerial bombing range. Pingree says the rule was withdrawn because the risk level is unknown and the economic impact on fishermen is greater than first thought.

The island, which serves as a nesting ground for the once-endangered puffin, is closed to public access. The waters surrounding the island are listed as a "danger zone" on nautical charts.

About 30 fishermen tend to hundreds of traps in the waters.

http://www.startribune.com/nation/59473312.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ

PETA asks fisherman to spare 100 year-old lobster

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

FREEPORT, N.S. - An animal rights group has sent an urgent appeal to a Nova Scotia lobster fisherman thinking of selling a giant lobster, believed to be more than 100 years old.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is asking Beau Gillis to let the old lobster live by allowing a PETA lobster liberator to help release him.

PETA president Ingrid Newkirk says the organization hopes Gillis, who is from Freeport, finds it in his heart to give the old lobster a chance to live out his remaining days in peace.

Newkirk says lobsters are complicated, interesting animals and this one has escaped the pot for a century or more.

She says the decent thing to do would be to show a bit of compassion towards the lobster.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/08/14/10461211-cp.html

Crustacean Color Control System Decoded

Anna Salleh, ABC Science Online

July 28, 2009 -- Popular crustaceans like lobsters, crabs and prawns owe their success to a unique color control system, according to a new genetic study.

Australian zoologist Nick Wade of the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship in Brisbane and colleagues reported their findings in this week's issue of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.

"We identified that this particular coloration system is only found in crustaceans," said Wade. "It's not found anywhere else in the animal kingdom."

Wade researched the crustacean color system for his PhD while at the University of Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Most people like their lobsters, crabs and prawns to come in nice strong colors because this is a sign the animals are good quality, said Wade.

"If the animal was all white people wouldn't be willing to pay much for it," he said.

But, said Wade, for crustaceans their color is key to their survival because it enables them to camouflage themselves and communicate with mates.

Scientists have long known that central to the color system of crustaceans is the carotenoid pigment astaxanthin, present in the shells of the animals.

A protein called crustacyanin is known to bind to astaxanthin and twist the pigment in various ways, changing the wavelength it reflects from red to a whole spectrum of colors, depending on how the molecules interact.

When a lobster is cooked, the crustacyanin protein is destroyed and the color of the shell returns to the orange of the free carotenoid.

The interaction between astaxanthin and crustacyanin is behind the myriad of colors that adorn various lobsters and prawns, said Wade.

"We're talking about going from the red end of the spectrum to the blue end of the spectrum," he said.

"That's the entire length of the visible spectrum. This protein is able to do something that no other protein can do."

Wade and colleagues wanted to know how widespread this color system is in the animal kingdom.

They looked for the gene responsible for crustacyanin in a whole slew of different animals but could only find it in crustaceans.

Wade said this simple "one molecule, many colors" system could have been key to the success of crustaceans, which occupy a bewildering diversity of habitats.

"What we're doing is starting to identify the genetic basis of biodiversity," he said.

Apart from genetics, other factors that influence the color of crustaceans are their dietary intake of carotenoids and the background color of their environment, said Wade.

Wade added that in the future the crustacean system could be used to develop new food dyes.

It could also be used to develop new indicators of acidity and temperature since both these factors can affect the protein-pigment complex, and thus affect color.

"You could engineer the protein to do more than it used to do," he said.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/07/28/crustacean-color.html

Blue Lobster Is 1 in 2 Million Find

July 9) -- A blue lobster is likely feeling anything but after his rare color saved him from being served as dinner.

The blue-hued crustacean, named Donald, has been displayed in a tank at a restaurant in Charlottetown on Canada's Prince Edward Island for several weeks, CBC News reported.

The 2-pound lobster is attracting a few visitors to the Water-Prince Corner Shop and Lobster Pound, some more interested than others.

"We have been asked for a certain time or two to serve a blue lobster," store owner Shane Campbell told CBC News. "We wouldn't bother doing it, because it's more valuable to us to either have (it) mounted or put back in the ocean."

Donald is a truly rare find: Only one in 2 million lobsters is blue.

http://news.aol.com/article/canada-blue-lobster/564860?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link6http://news.aol.com/article/canada-blue-lobster/564860

Mass. yellow lobster is a 1 in 30 million rarity

Thu Jun 11, 8:48 pm ET

EASTHAM, Mass. – This lobster will catch your eye, but not because you're imagining its tail dipped in butter. It is bright orange and yellow, even though it's never been near a boiling pot.

Specialists tell The Boston Globe it's called a "yellow lobster" and it's one in 30 million.

The lobster now named Fiona was recently caught off Canada. It was given by a friend to Nathan Nickerson, the owner of Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar in Eastham, on Cape Cod.

New England Aquarium director of research Michael Tlusty says a rare genetic mutation produces yellow lobsters.

Life isn't easy for such animals. Their bright colors make it easy for predators to spot them.

Nickerson said the human predators at his restaurant will never get Fiona. He said it would be like steaming a Rembrandt.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_yellow_lobster

Giant lobster takes over U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys

Shannon McGregor - AHN Special Categories Editor

Miami, FL (AHN) -- The infamous giant lobster of Plantation Key used U.S. 1 as a route to her new home Friday morning in the Florida Keys. Betsey, a rather large lobster at three-stories tall, has made a new home in front of the Rain Barrel Artisan Village shopping complex at U.S. 1 mile marker 86.7.

Made from fiberglass and metal, Betsey is a detailed, biologically accurate sculpture of a female spiny lobster. She moved to her new home after her old perch, a former shopping complex, was converted to a school, the Florida Keys Keynoter reported.

Artist Richard Blaze, who was commissioned to create the giant lobster by a local restaurant, created Betsey using his fiberglass skills. The restaurant closed before the sculpture was done, and the late Tom Vellanti acquired it for display at his Treasure Village shopping complex.

Betsey has made appearances on TV shows and has even been featured in the Sport Illustrated swimsuit issue.

http://www.ncbuy.com/news/2009-03-27/1017518.html