THE AMAZING HAWAIIAN MICRO-LOBSTERS!™
MICRO-LOBSTER BASICS SECTION
THE AMAZING CREATURE!
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THE ANATOMY OF OPAE-ULA;
the amazing Hawaiian Micro-Lobster™!

                Micro-Lobster resemble spiny lobsters, crayfish, or shrimp and are symmetrical with parts arranged in pairs.  In layman's terms, the body consists of a "head" and "tail." In higher academic terms, the head is called the cephalothorax which is a fusion of the head and thorax.  The front section includes:

        1.     Movable compound eyes mounted on stalks.

        2.     A long antennae which is the primary touching or tactile organ.

        3.     A second shorter divided antennae which serves as the nose to smell.

        4.     The caparace is the tough shell that protects the internal organs of the head, thorax, and the gills at the base of the legs.

        5.     Six pairs of mouth parts are used to grasp, scrape, crush, and pass algae, bacteria, or other food back to the mouth.

        6.     Micro-Lobsters are decopods, or creatures with five pairs or a total of ten legs. In "Maine-type lobsters" or crayfish, the first pair of legs are large claws with one larger that the other. The large claw is used as a crusher of hard-shell food while the more slender claw is a slicer.  Micro-Lobsters, like the Hawaiian Spiny Lobsters, do not have large claws.  Instead, especially visible while filter-feeding up-side down on the surface, the claws resemble little boxing gloves that tears off algae or moves spirulina powder directly to the mouth.

        7.     The second and third set of legs end in small pinceretts and the first three sets of legs are believed to have taste organs.

        8.     The third, fourth, and 5th set of legs are the longest and used for walking. The male sperm duct is located at the base of the fifth set of legs while the female opening to the oviducts (through which the eggs are released) is at the base of the third legs.

COMPONENTS OF THE "TAIL"

        9.     Five tough sections protect the muscular part commonly known as the "tail." In not being fused, the flexibility allows it to swiftly react to perceived danger.

       10.     Five pairs of pleopods or "swimmerets" provide locomotion and circulate water.  In males, the first two sets are stiff and grooved to transfer the sperm packet. The forward female swimmerets are flatter, longer, and covered with hairs that allow the eggs to be attached.

       11.     The last section has the telson and the tail pads attached.

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES

                The anatomy of opae-ula have much in common with lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp and much information has been learned by studying related crustaceans.  Besides size, there are several areas of significant differences.

        1.     American (or Maine) Lobsters and crayfish have a large pair of claws while the largest opae-ula claw is very small.

        2.     Lobsters and crayfish are notoriously territorial, and aggressive while tropical spiny lobsters and opae-ula are very sociable and know to live close together and form tight groups.

        3.     Although opae-ula are very tiny compared to Maine lobsters, their eggs are about the same 1 mm. size!  Maine lobsters have 10,000 to 20,000 eggs while opae-ula may have as many as 10-16.  It's estimated that only 1/100th of 1% of the Maine Lobster eggs (or about 10) will survive beyond the first four weeks of life.   While opae-ula have only a small number of eggs,  a very high percentage of those that hatch into larvae survive and develop into adults. 

        4.      The egg brood period is the length of time the eggs are carried.   Maine Lobster brood period is nine to eleven months.  Opae-ula brood period is about 38 days.  It is possible that opae-ula may reproduce more than once per year.

        5.     Herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore?  Many believe that crustaceans with larger pinchers are carnivores that eat other creatures and that opae-ula are herbivores that eat primarily algae.  We've found that most are scavengers or omnivores that will eat just about anything. 

                As we continue to study opae-ula, we're steadily discovering more and more details and this will one day improve reproduction techniques.

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