Ten legs
Creeping over the sandy sea bottom is an animal that looks like a big
insect. But it has ten legs. Two of the legs have big claws. The animal
has long feelers. Its body is covered with a hard shell. It’s a lobster.
Lobsters, crabs, shrimps, and barnacles are crustaceans. That’s a word
that means animal with a crust. Every part of a lobster’s body is
covered with a crust of hard skin, like armor.
Crustaceans are cousins of the insects that fly and hop and creep about
on land. But crustaceans are different from insects in several ways.
Insects have six legs and two feelers. Crustaceans have at least ten
legs, and four feelers. Insects breathe air through tiny holes in their
bodies. Most crustaceans live in the water and breathe with gills, as
fish do.
Barnacle
Crabs and lobsters look somewhat alike. But crabs have round, fat
bodies. Lobsters have long bodies and wide, flat tails.
Shrimps are smaller than most crabs and lobsters. Some kinds of shrimps
are so small they can be seen only with a microscope.
Barnacles are crustaceans that stop walking. When they are young they
fasten themselves to rocks, floating pieces of wood, or the bottoms of
ships. They are closed up inside their shells, with only their legs
sticking out. They wiggle their legs to pull in tiny bits of food that
float past in the water.
Lobsters, crabs, shrimps, and barnacles are cousins of the insects that
live on land.
Lobster
A lobster walks with eight legs It catches food with the claws on its
other two legs. It swims by wiggling its tail. Its body is covered
with a tough shell.
A lobster has
five swim fins A lobster’s eyes
on its tail.
are on stalks.
