LOBSTER

Lobsters are the most popular type of shellfish. This shellfish sheds its shell and in a month’s time, the inner shell hardens. Interestingly, an ordinary lobster would shed up to 25 shells at the age of 5, after which the shedding rate slows down dramatically. It would then shed as few as one shell every one or two years. Lobsters can live for a very long time and as they mature, they can get massive in size. Normally, the breeding time for lobsters is mainly summer but sometimes they are also available in winter. Their claws are usually removed after they are caught since they can injure or even try to eat other caught lobsters. Lobsters that are not in pristine condition can have more meat so they shouldn’t be rejected.

CRAWFISH or CRAYFISH

Crawfish is another name for a crayfish, a freshwater crustacean related to the lobster but smaller. Crawfish is also sometimes used as the name of several similar saltwater crustaceans, especially the spiny lobster (also called the rock lobster). The plural of crawfish can be crawfish or crawfishes. Crawfish are small crustaceans that live in fresh water and are similar in flavor to shrimp and lobster. Approximately 95% of the crawfish consumed in the United States are harvested from Louisiana, but they're popular all over the world from Sweden to Spain to Nigeria. You can find this common crustacean crawling around in swamps, rivers, and lakes all over the planet.

SHRIMP

Any of the approximately 2,000 species of the suborder Natantia (order Decapoda of the class Crustacea). Close relatives include crabs, crayfish, and lobsters. Shrimp are characterized by a semitransparent body flattened from side to side and a flexible abdomen terminating in a fanlike tail. The appendages are modified for swimming, and the antennae are long and whiplike. Shrimp occur in all oceans—in shallow and deep water—and in freshwater lakes and streams. Many species are commercially important as food. Shrimp range in length from a few millimetres to more than 20 cm (about 8 inches); average size is about 4 to 8 cm (1.5 to 3 inches). Larger individuals are often called prawns. Shrimp swim backward by rapidly flexing the abdomen and tail. Their food consists mostly of small plants and animals, although some shrimp feed on carrion. The female shrimp may lay from 1,500 to 14,000 eggs, which are attached to the swimming legs. The swimming larvae pass through five developmental stages before becoming juveniles.

CRAB

Crab is an invertebrate that belongs to the crustacean family.There are over 4,500 species of crabs. They live in all the world’s oceans, in fresh water, and on land. But most crab species are found in the shallower ocean waters where the crabs tend to inhabit rocky pools and coral reefs. The lifespan of a crab varies according to species. A blue crab lives one to eight years, while a Japanese Spider Crab lives 50 to 100 years. Crab life expectancies also vary according to habitat. Crabs kept as pets can live longer than crabs in the wild when they are properly cared for. Crabs greatly vary in size. The pea crab (Pinnotheres pisum) is the smallest known species reaches from 6 to 13 millimeters (0.24 to 0.5 inches).

OYSTER

Oyster, any member of the families Ostreidae (true oysters) or Aviculidae (pearl oysters), bivalve mollusks found in temperate and warm coastal waters of all oceans. Bivalves known as thorny oysters (Spondylus) and saddle oysters (Anomia) are sometimes included in the group. True oysters have been cultivated as food for more than 2,000 years. Pearl oysters also have long been valued for the precious pearls that develop in them. (See also pearl.) The two valves of the oyster shell, which differ in shape, have rough surfaces that are often a dirty gray. The upper valve is convex, or higher at the middle than at the edges. The lower valve, fixed to the bottom or to another surface, is larger, has smoother edges, and is rather flat. The inner surfaces of both valves are smooth and white. Oysters have a soft, edible body under their outer, rough shells. They have a sticky texture, and the taste varies with the location. As the name suggests, saltwater oysters are saltier than those caught from lakes or rivers.

CLAMS

Clams are bivalve mollusks, i.e. they have two shells with two separate sections. With its powerful, burrowing foot, it normally lies buried up to 0.6 meters beneath the surface. Most of them are located in shallow waters and unlike other bivalves, they are rarely found on the seafloor. Their size depends on the location. Those that are as big as 1.2 meters long are typically located in the Indian and Pacific oceans. in general, any member of the invertebrate class Bivalvia—mollusks with a bivalved shell (i.e., one with two separate sections). More than 15,000 living species of bivalves are known, of which about 500 live in fresh water; the others occur in all seas. Bivalves usually live on or in sandy or muddy bottoms.

OCTOPUS

The octopus is regarded as one of the most terrifying sea creatures because of myths and stories, yet they are also a favorite for seafood-lovers. On the Pacific coast of the US, a purplish-black octopus is fished, cleaned and sold frozen. The octopus is essentially a mollusk that lacks a shell but has eight arms and three hearts. Where cephalopods are concerned, marine biologists are careful to distinguish between "arms" and "tentacles." If the invertebrate structure has suckers along its entire length, it's called an arm; if it only has suckers at the tip, it's called a tentacle. By this standard, most octopuses have eight arms and no tentacles, while two other cephalopods, cuttlefish and squids, have eight arms and two tentacles. All vertebrate animals have one heart, but the octopus is equipped with three: one that pumps blood through the cephalopod's body (including the arms), and two that pump blood through the gills, the organs that enable the octopus to breathe underwater by harvesting oxygen. And there's another key difference, too: The primary component of octopus blood is hemocyanin, which incorporates atoms of copper, rather than hemoglobin, which incorporates atoms of iron. This is why octopus blood is blue rather than red.

SQUID

Squid belongs to the cephalopod mollusk category. It is a relative of the octopus but has a comparatively more streamlined body. It is covered in a sort of brownish-black ink that it uses as protective camouflage in the ocean. AnimalsInteresting facts about squids 4 Years Ago FACEBOOK PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE squid Squids are marine cephalopods with eight arms and two long tentacles, typically able to change color. The squid is one of the most highly developed invertebrates, well adapted to its active, predatory life. There are more than 300 known species of squid out there that have been identified. Squid are known to inhabit almost every major body of saltwater on the planet and even some bodies of freshwater. Many squid are adept at surviving in cold, oxygen-deprived waters deep below the surface. The largest quantity of squid species are found throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. The North Pacific is also home to a variety of squid types. Most of squid species will be found at least 300 meters (1,000 feet) below the surface. The water is cooler there and they can be alone.

SNAIL

nails belong to the gastropod mollusk family and are extremely popular in the seafood industry, particularly the land variety. There are many types of snails, but they fundamentally differ because they are aquatic or terrestrial. The former are adapted to live in the sea or bodies of fresh water, but the latter live exclusively on land, although in humid areas. A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name snail is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into.