Slipper lobsters don't have strong claws like other kinds of lobsters, but these creatures have adapted to survive in the world's dangerous oceans. Broad, flat antennae help slipper lobsters find a meal, and they love nothing better than a thoroughly rotten fish. A camouflaged exoskeleton keeps these lobsters well hidden from predators.
We Are Family: Though they're the same shape, slipper lobsters can look wildly different. Some are smooth, some are covered in bumps, come have bright colors to help them blend in with their surroundings and some have fringes on their sides to help them feel their way along on the ocean floor.
Dive Suit: A slipper lobster's tough shell allows it to hunt at great depths. The shell can withstand water pressure as far down as 2,000 feet. This lets the lobsters scavenge areas where other lobsters can't survive.
Adaptable Antennae[]
Some slipper lobsters have fringe that helps them feel their way around.
Slipper lobsters lack the clawed pincers that other lobsters have. What look like thick claws on the front of these creatures' bodies are actually a pair of modified antennae. Flat and round (and reminiscent of slippers), the antennae are used to dig through the sandy seabed in hopes of uncovering food, be it plant or animal. Plus, these antennae are open and hinged in the front, so slipper lobsters can also grab their food with them and shove it into their mouths.
Backstroke: Slipper lobsters usually get around by just walking over the seabed, but when they do swim, they swim backwards. Their tails hang just under their bodies, and a few strokes can help them escape from potential predators.
Hitch a Ride: Slipper lobster larvae are food for many small creatures, but some have developed a unique survival strategy-they hook their legs to the tentacles of passing jellyfish, then drop away when passing over a safer area of the ocean.
Tug of War[]
- Two slipper lobsters foraging for food find the rotting body on the seabed at the same time. Both are hungry and want this meal for themselves. Each grabs one end of the fish in their hinged antennae and tries to pull it from the other's grasp.
- The slipper lobsters lock their thin legs in crevices between the rocks to give them a better hold on the fish, and both continue to pull hard. Eventually, the fish's body can't handle the strain and rips apart at the tail, leaving one lobster with a full meal and the other with scraps.
Trivia[]
- The species used in the lobster's illustration is possibly the blunt slipper lobster (Scyllarides squammosus).