Longevity of lobsters is not a common phenomenon

Lobsters, as animals with strong hypoxia tolerance, are usually characterized by colorful, thick heads and hard shells. They are mainly distributed in tropical seas and are also the largest species of shrimps. However, many animals that live in the dark waters of the deep sea will be influenced by some myths, including lobsters. Many people think that lobsters have "immortal bodies". As lobsters get older, their growth rate will slow down, but this crustacean with big claws has never stopped growing in its life. If they didn't die at the hands of fishermen and hungry predators, how long did lobsters live, and why did they all turn red after being cooked?

How long can a lobster live?

Lobsters do have a special ability, which may make up for the myth of "immortality", that is, the fact that they never stop growing. With their endless growth, the weight of older American lobsters can reach about 11 kg, while most lobsters caught by fishermen are around .5 kg, but this weight is actually when this invertebrate is between 4 and 18 months old. Moreover, even lobsters in their old age will not stop breeding, which is the biggest difference between them and other animals. Older female lobsters are often better mothers. They will go farther away from the sea to release their babies, instead of dumping them near the shore like young lobster mothers, because such places often have more polluted sediments. The age of lobsters is not much different from that of most other creatures, but some of them can reach a long life.

For example, the well-known American lobster, the so-called American lobster, can live for at least 1 years, but its life span is more than five times that of Caribbean spiny lobster, that is to say, its life span is sometimes less than 2 years. This also shows that the longevity of lobsters is not a common phenomenon, and there are obvious species differences. The main reason for this age difference is that the temperature of water in their living environment is different, and the metabolic ability of lobsters will change with the change of water temperature. When the water around lobsters is cold, they will have slow metabolism. Conversely, when lobsters are in warm water, such as in the Caribbean, their metabolic rate is relatively much faster. Therefore, as long as American lobsters escape predators and diseases, they can age slowly to get a long enough life. Being located in the cold Atlantic waters in the north of the east coast can slow down their metabolism.

Why is it difficult to tell the age of lobsters

Although the life span of lobsters is limited, it is still difficult for us to know their specific age, because when they peel off their skin, the lining of their stomach, the covering of their gills, even the eyes themselves and all the hard parts are taken out. This incredible process leads to the concealment of any information that can reveal their true age. Moreover, in the life cycle of lobsters, they will continue to shell, grow and reproduce, which is one of the reasons for the myth that lobsters can live forever, until marine biological scientists say that lobsters will grow with their shells until they are killed or die naturally. In fact, lobster itself has a unique mitochondrial telomere. Whenever a cell divides, these mitochondrial telomeres will continue to contract. When it reaches a certain level, when the cell can't continue to divide, then the aging characteristics will appear.

Finally, in the past few years, researchers have made a new discovery. There are teeth in the stomach of lobsters, and these teeth will persist in all moles. The lines of these teeth are like tree rings, and this information can help us know the real age of lobsters. Scientists are currently determining how these lines are formed, for example, whether their growth rate and appearance will also be affected by temperature. Specifically, when the lobster lives in a high temperature place for a period of time and then returns to the cold water at the bottom of the ocean, will the growth ring on its stomach teeth change? Of course, although there is a lot of knowledge about lobsters that needs time to explore, there is a basic fact that lobsters will never live forever.

Why do cooked lobsters turn red

Lobsters have colorful appearance. The reason why blue-green lobsters can survive natural elimination is that individuals living on the seabed need to have inconspicuous characteristics, so it is more likely to pass on this good gene to future generations for reproduction. Of course, we will find an interesting phenomenon in our life, that is, any crustacean will turn bright red after being heated at high temperature. So, what caused such a dramatic color change? Scientists have been trying to find the reason for this change of pigment since the 197s. Lobster camouflage is actually the product of two molecules, one is protein called chitin, and the other is carotenoid called astaxanthin.

Although lobsters can't make their own astaxanthin, they can get it from their own food. Of course, this is not a simple process. When lobster eats astaxanthin, it will be absorbed into the body. Astaxanthin is red, while live lobsters are blue-green. It was not until 22 that researchers learned that protein chitin would change the color of astaxanthin itself by twisting molecules and changing the way it reflected light. We can simply describe this process. When astaxanthin is in a free state, it will show a common red color. When it is combined with chitin, it will turn blue. When lobster is heated, chitin molecules lose their shape and recombine in different ways. This is why as long as the lobster is heated at high temperature, it will release astaxanthin. No matter whether you boil, stir-fry or bake, crustaceans will eventually release astaxanthin to untie the pigment and show its true color.