Lobster eggs, a crucial element in the life cycle of the American lobster (Homarus americanus), undergo transformations in appearance from the moment they are laid until they hatch. These visual changes directly indicate the developing embryo’s maturity and the female lobster’s reproductive stage. The appearance of the eggs changes over time, making their developmental stage easy to track by color and texture.
Initial Appearance and Texture
When a female lobster first extrudes her eggs, they are small, bead-like structures, about 1/16th of an inch in diameter. In culinary contexts, these immature eggs found inside the lobster are known as roe. Biologically, the eggs once laid and attached externally are often called “berries.”
The initial coloration is a uniform dark green or black, due to the dense yolk material inside. This dark coloring serves as protective camouflage against the ocean floor during the lengthy incubation period. A single female can extrude tens of thousands of these eggs, with a one-pound female carrying approximately 8,000 eggs. The sheer volume of the tightly clustered eggs makes them appear as a solid mass.
How Female Lobsters Carry Their Eggs
Once fertilized, the female lobster attaches the eggs to the tiny, feathery appendages called swimmerets (pleopods), located on the underside of her abdomen. She secretes a glue-like substance to cement the eggs securely, keeping them protected and oxygenated. This process is known as “berrying,” and a female carrying eggs is referred to as “berried.”
The carriage period is long, lasting anywhere from 9 to 12 months, depending on the water temperature. Throughout this time, the female actively tends to her clutch by constantly fanning them with her swimmerets. This action ensures a steady flow of oxygenated water and helps clean the eggs of debris.
Color and Size Changes During Incubation
The most significant visual changes occur as the embryos develop during the long incubation period. The initial dark green or black color is due to the dense yolk, which fuels early growth. As the embryo matures and consumes the yolk, the egg’s appearance lightens.
The development of the embryo’s eye spots is a major milestone and a clear marker of maturity. These eye spots, often turquoise in color, become visible through the thinning egg shell, giving the clutch a two-toned or grayish-green appearance. As development progresses, the clutch color shifts from a dark shade to increasingly brownish or reddish hues. This change occurs because the shell becomes more translucent, allowing the reddish pigment of the developing embryo to show through.
The Final Stage and Hatching
As the eggs approach the final stage of development, the color becomes progressively lighter, often appearing tan, orange, or a distinctive reddish-brown. This late-stage coloration signals that the embryo is fully formed and close to hatching, sometimes taking on a slight blue tinge a day or two before release. The eggs may also swell slightly.
The clutch appearance becomes sparser as some eggs may be lost or begin hatching individually. Hatching occurs over several nights, with the female standing erect and rapidly fluttering her pleopods to release the larvae into the water column. The newly hatched larvae are known as pre-larvae or stage one larvae; they are tiny, bug-like creatures that do not yet resemble miniature lobsters. After the eggs are released, the female’s swimmerets appear “mossy” due to the empty egg casings and residual adhesive material.