Lobsters Keep Predators at a Distance With Sound

Scientists now understand more about the unique way spiny lobsters create sound to ward off predators. Using a method of sound production resembling that of stringed instruments, spiny lobsters startle attackers by emitting loud, raspy noises.

Sheila Patek of Duke University closely investigated the method by which spiny lobsters produce sound. She attached small sensors to the muscles of the spiny lobster's antenna and then recorded the sound the lobster produced using an underwater microphone.

Spiny lobsters are diverse group of lobsters with widespread distribution. These animals are classified as follows:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Mandibulata
• Superclass: Crustacea
• Class: Malacostraca
• Sublass: Eumalacostraca
• Superorder: Eucarida
• Order: Decapoda
• Suborder: Pleocyemata
• Infraorder: Palinura
• Family: Palinuridae
• Genus: Panulirus

Note: Advanced readers can explore the molecular basis for classifying spiny lobsters in Molecular phylogeny of the spiny lobster genus Panulirus.

Unlike their relatives the Maine lobsters, spiny lobsters are clawless and lack the snapping and pinching defenses claws offer. Spiny lobsters have pointed antennae in place of claws. A soft tissue on the antennae, when rubbed against a smooth area on the lobster's head plate emits a loud, raspy noise that is startling predators. The distracting sound gives the lobsters that extra bit of time to escape to safety.

Spiny lobsters are extremely mobile and migrate when changes in food supply and water temperatures dictate. Mass migrations of spiny lobsters take them to warmer waters each fall and back to cooler waters each spring. During their migration, they form single-file lines and march across the seabed.

Find out more:

• Lobster's Unique Sounds Defy Predators
• Doing the Lobster Rock (BBC News)

Photo © Duke University. Shiela Patek and spiny lobster.