LOBSTERS

All about the crustacean ``called `the gangster of the sea' because it is aggressive and territorial by nature'': its anatomy, life cycle, courtship, and breeding; and about lobstering: its history and lore, trapping, and marketing. Cerullo's unusually detailed text is spiced with plenty of the odd facts that spur further inquiry—e.g., in colonial times, lobsters were `' `poverty food'...served to children, to prisoners, and to indentured servants.'' Now big business, they have been studied extensively; the author interviews scientists who describe their growth, migration, and senses (lobsters have antennules with over 400 chemoreceptors ``sensitive enough to distinguish between a horse mussel and a blue mussel'') and reports on humane cooking methods, concluding, ``according to modern science, a few minutes in the freezer means less agony in the kettle.'' The vivid color photos are often intriguing: month-old lobsters cupped in a human hand with a penny for size perspective; rare blue lobsters; a close-up of feathery sensory hairs. A fine science title, attractive and entertaining. Bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 10-14)