Cryptic size of lobster

When postlarvae find a good habitat, they settle in a shelter on the bottom and moult quickly. It is said that lobsters become benthic.

At the beginning of their benthic life, lobsters are cryptic. They remain hidden almost all the time to protect themselves from predators. If a younger lobster must come out to feed or to find a larger shelter, it will do so at night. When their cephalothorax reaches between 15 and 25 mm in length, lobsters are emerging. Their claws are a little more developed and they come out a little more, while remaining close to their shelters. When their cephalothorax reaches between 25 and 40 mm, lobsters become vagile. They come out much further and hunt more freely. They become adolescent when their cephalothorax is over approximately 40 mm. Their reproductive organs develop, and lobsters are adult when they are able to breed. Size at maturity varies considerably according to area and gender. Maturity is generally reached at sizes larger than 60 mm. Out of 10,000 larvae at the beginning, it is estimated that approximately only one will survive until adulthood.