Jay Sevick, age 11, of St. Augustine, Fla., for his question:

DOES A LOBSTER LIVE A LONG TIME?

Lobsters are hard shelled animals that live on the bottom of the oceans near shores. They hide in holes or under rocks at depths of six to 120 feet and, if left alone, they will live to be about 15 years old.

A lobster sits in its burrow all day, waving its feelers outside the entrance. It holds its claws ready and pounces on any prey that comes near. Lobsters eat crabs, snails, small fish and other lobsters.

At night the lobster walks along the ocean bottom looking for additional food. If an enemy such as a large fish or an octopus comes near, the lobster hurries back into its burrow with powerful flips of its tail.

Once every two years a female lobster will lay between 5,000 and 100,000 or more eggs at a time. The number will vary with her size and her age. The female lobster then carries the eggs under the curve of her tail for 11 to 12 months. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the lobster shakes the young out of the eggshells.

Newborn lobsters are about a third of an inch long. They rise to the surface and drift and swim about for three to five weeks. At this time, they are easy prey for sea birds, fish and other enemies. Then the lobsters sink to the ocean bottom where they spend the rest of their lives.

Lobsters molt or cast off their shells as they grow. The animal loses its first shell two days after hatching and molts three more times during the first month.

When molting, the lobster's body gives off a substance that softens the shell. Then, by expanding its muscles, the lobster splits the shell and steps out of it. This whole process takes about 15 minutes. The new shell, which had formed under the old one, is soft and gives the lobster no protection. The animal hides from its enemies until the new shell hardens.

A lobster has five pairs of jointed legs. Four pairs are thin and the lobster uses them for walking. The fifth pair, which extend in front of the head, are thick and end in large claws. One of the claws is heavy and has thick teeth to crush prey. The other is smaller and has sharp teeth to tear food apart.

All lobsters do not have the heavy claw on the same side. Some are "right handed" and others are "left handed."

The front claws of the spiny lobster are long and slender. This lobster, named for the sharp spines on its shell, lives in coastal waters throughout much of the world.

The tasty meat of the lobster makes it a favorite seafood. At one time, fishermen caught so many lobsters that the animals were in danger of dying out. Laws were passed to protect lobsters and the animals were raised in areas where lobster fishing was forbidden.

Lobsters are caught in traps called pots. The traps are actually cages made of narrow pieces of wood or metal. A lobster can enter the pot, but cannot find the opening to get out. A fisherman baits the trap with any kind of small fish.