The common lobster is a ten-legged crustacean of the family Nephropidae and looks very much like scampi. It has two large, asymmetrical claws at the front of the body, which are used both for procuring food and as a means of defence against predators. The common lobster is bluish in appearance and has a number of yellow dorsal patches, while the underside is a shade of creamy white. Like all crustaceans, it has a hard exoskeleton it has to shed to grow. In the lobster’s case it is smooth, except for two spines by the eyes. They are generally around 40 cm long, but specimens have been caught measuring half a metre in length. Nearly all the lobsters sold commercially have been caught in their natural habitat by means of lobster pots. The bait usually consists of pieces of cuttlefish or octopus. Many attempts to farm lobster and to breed them in captivity have been made over the years but without much success, owing to the animal’s natural aggressiveness unleashed by its strongly territorial nature. One of this species’ characteristics is its ability to re-grow in just a few days a claw lost or damaged in combat with predators or rivals of the same species. Minimum size is 30 cm (total length) or 10.5 cm (length of carapace).