Common lobster
Scientific name: Homarus gammarus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Overview
Homarus gammarus, known as the European lobster or common lobster, is a species of clawed lobster from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Black Sea. It is closely related to the American lobster, H. americanus. It may grow to a length of 60 cm (24 in) and a mass of 6 kilograms (13 lb), and bears a conspicuous pair of claws. In life, the lobsters are blue, only becoming "lobster red" on cooking. Mating occurs in the summer, producing eggs which are carried by the females for up to a year before hatching into planktonic larvae. Homarus gammarus is a source of highly esteemed foodstuff, and is widely caught using lobster pots, mostly around the British Isles.
From the Wikipedia article “Homarus gammarus”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Common names
Also known in English as European lobster.
Names in other languages (8)
- Arabic
- كركند أوروبي
- Chinese
- 歐洲螯龍蝦
- French
- Homard européen
- German
- Europäischer Hummer
- Japanese
- ヨーロッパウミザリガニ
- Persian
- شاهمیگوی اروپایی
- Russian
- Европейский омар
- Spanish
- Bogavante
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q27690, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Homarus gammarus”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Bart Braun, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026