THE way to a lobster's age is through its stomach. The finding could improve our understanding of mortality rates within lobster populations, with implications for sustainable fishing practices.
Aquatic species are usually aged by counting annual growth bands deposited on hard parts in their bodies - like counting tree rings. Many fish have bands on bones in the ear, but crustaceans lose their hard parts when they moult.
Raouf Kilada at the University of New Brunswick in Canada has found a lobster hard part that isn't lost - the gastric mills that grind its food. He presented the finding at the Crustacean Society meeting in Athens, Greece, in June.
Scientists use body size to approximate crustacean age in population models. Kilada's work could make the models more precise, says Adrian Linnane at the South Australian Research and Development Institute.
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