If you’ve ever wondered what lobsters do at your local supermarket while you’re not watching you might want to take a look at this short clip.
Yes, lobsters are aggressive and territorial. They fight often. Its interesting to watch them duke it out like a couple of boxers. In the tank they are wearing rubber bands for the protection of the workers and from other lobsters.
Lobsters living together, whether in tanks or in territories on the ocean bottom, soon establish a hierarchy of dominance. They usually fight once, sometimes with great ferocity, to determine who will become the boss. The winner, not surprisingly, is usually the larger and more aggressive one, but occasionally a smaller but tougher opponent wins. After that, whenever the two lobsters meet, the winner whips his antennae across the other lobster’s claws. The loser grovels in the sand until the dominant one passes by. In captivity, subordinate lobsters often suffer slower growth and less frequent molting. It could be the result of stress or less food. The dominant lobster gets first choice of shelter, food, and mates. In captivity, the female lobsters actually stagger their molts in order to wait their turn to mate with the dominant male!
In the end it doesn’t matter who wins because either way the poor critters are going to have an all expense paid sauna bath for the satisfaction of the lobster connoisseur. Heck, in this case it may pay off to lose since the livelier lobster is usually selected by customers because it is considered fresher.