lauttimur.com - Crayfish and lobsters are often confused with one another, and it certainly doesn’t help when in some regions lobsters are called crayfish.  It’s an easy mistake to make – after all, they do look incredibly similar. Both live in water and have hard exoskeletons and large pincers. But the truth is they are actually two completely different species.

1.    Size
One of the differences between crayfish and lobster is their size.  Crayfish are much smaller than lobsters and range between 5 and 15 cm long.  Lobsters are much larger and are typically between 20 and 50 cm long, but some can even be up to several feet in length.

2.    Habitat
The easiest way to tell the difference between lobsters and crayfish is to look at where are living.  Crayfish live in freshwater rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams while lobsters live in saltwater in seas and oceans. However, both are bottom dwellers and like to lurk under rocks and in crevices on the muddy bottoms.

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3.    Color
At first glance there isn’t much difference between the color of lobsters and crayfish – crayfish are dark blue, green, or black, while lobsters are greenish-blue or greenish-brown.  However, lobsters can sometimes be seen in a wide variety of bright colors, including albino, red, orange, or blue.

4.    Diet
Crayfish and lobsters also have different diets, although they are both omnivores. Lobsters eat mainly small fish, mollusks, snails, clams, some plants, and other small crustaceans. Crayfish eat a mixture of plants, worms, insects, and dead plants and animals.

5.    Lifespan
Lobsters and crayfish also have vastly different lifespans. Depending on the species, crayfish live for between 3 and 8 years.  However, lobsters can usually live up to 100 years. Incredibly, some even far exceed that and the oldest lobster ever caught was estimated to be 140 years old. The secret to their longevity is believed to be due to telomerase – an enzyme that repairs DNA.

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