How do Lobsters Move

Photo Courtesy of Selena N. B. H.

Learn all about the answer to the question how do lobsters move.

Lobsters are invertebrates, which means that their "skeleton" is outside their body, it is their shell. Their muscles are attached to the shell, the same as our muscles are attached to our bones. So when they move their muscles, it moves their shell.

Lobsters main way of moving is by walking on the sea bottom. Unlike us and unlike crabs, lobsters walk backwards, forwards, and sideways. They keep their balance on rocky, uneven group with the help of its anennae and hairs that grow in surface indentations on its claws. When the antannae touch something, they bend, and the hairs are moved by the water that moves over them. Both of these things give sensory input to the lobster, since it has very poor vision, that allows it to change direction so that it doesn't fall over.

They move pretty slowly when they walk, though there has been a recent study by St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia (about a 3 hour drive from me, and fondly referred to around here as St. F. X.). If you've ever turned a lobster over, you might have noticed some small hairy fin like things on their belly. Well it turns out these are used to help them move faster when they are walking. They fan them back and forth which creates a jet-like thrust. This was explained in a recent BBC Earth article.

When they are threatened, rather than walking, lobsters swim backwards. They quickly contract their abdomens, which makes their tails flip up and down very quickly. They also use those fins (they are commonly called swimmerets, but their proper scientific name is pleopods) on their belly at the same time. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, when they do this, they can go as fast as five metres per second - that's about 11 miles per hour.

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