20 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



upright in opposition to gravity. In a lobster, these organs 

 are pockets lined with sensitive hairs, many of which have 

 little weights in the form of tiny sand grains glued to their 

 tips. The grains swing about with the least movement of 

 the body and telegraph their position to the nervous system. 

 It is possible that the large antennae contribute to * * 

 the sense of balance. If both large antennae are cut off 

 and a lobster is balanced vertically on its head in a 

 tank, it will hold this position for several hours. 



Molting 



The molting of a lobster is a most interesting proce- 

 dure. The shed shell is often found, and the act itself has 

 sometimes been observed. 



A lobster molts because its meat has grown but its in- 

 elastic shell has not. A freshly molted lobster will be an 

 inch or more longer than its cast shell. 



Molting begins the second day after hatching and con- 

 tinues through the life of the lobster, or at least as long as 

 it is growing. The first three molts are passed in from 

 twelve to fifteen days. In mature lobsters, the male sheds 

 once a year, unless it is very old and slow-growing. A lob- 

 ster weighing ten pounds will shed perhaps every three or 

 four years. The female usually molts once in two years if she 

 is fertile, otherwise the same as a male. From first to last, 

 the shell is cast in one piece with only a split down the 

 back. In healthy young animals, molting lasts but a few 

 minutes, but the process is striking and at all times it is 

 critical and sometimes fatal. 



Certain changes occur in the body of a lobster in prepa- 

 ration for the molt. Among these changes is the absorp- 

 tion into the body of the lobster of much of the lime in its 

 shell along a narrow line in the solid part extending from its 

 beak to the after end. The shell becomes brittle along this 

 line in preparation to splitting open. A most important 

 change is in the flesh of the lobster, which becomes stringy 

 and watery and unpalatable. The large claws shrink, due to 

 the fluid in the claws being withdrawn into other parts of 



