There are two commercially important families of edible lobsters. They live in subtropical and tropical oceans. Lobsters crawl rather than swim. In Homarus , the first of the five pairs of walking legs is modified to form the large crusher and ripper claws. The shieldlike shell covering the main portion of the lobster's body is called the carapace.
Lobsters have compound eyes that are carried on movable eye stalks.
Each eye is made up of approximately 14,000 individual units. Lobsters can detect movement, and they may be able to perceive images. It is not known whether lobsters can detect colors as can other decapods. Live American lobsters are usually olive green or greenish brown, though dusky orange and even bright blue lobsters are sometimes found. Diet, heredity, and exposure to light all affect a lobster's color.