Soal dan Pembahasan TBI (Reading Comprehension) Bagian 21

        To many,  it  may seem  that  the lobster's  most natural  habitat  is  on a large,  oval plate between  a cup of drawn butter and a lemon wedge.  In fact, only a few of the hundreds of types of lobster are caught commercrenv.  But those  few  species are some  of the  most heavily harvested  creatures  tn the  sea, and generate  a  multl-brllion-dcllar  industry,  with  more than 200,000 tons (181,436  metrie tons) of annual  global catch.

        The lobsters  that  most people know from their  dinner  plates  are the  American  and  European clawed  lobsters  Homarus americanus and Homarus gammarus.  These are cold water species  that live on either sides of the  northern  Atlantrc  Ocean. There are also tropical  lobsters that are widely consumed,  but these are generally clawless varieties called spiny and slipper lobsters.

        Lobsters  are  ten-legged  crustaceans   closely  related  to  shrimp  and  crabs.  These  benthic.  Or bottomdwelling,  creatures  are found  in  all  of the world's  oceans,  as well as brackish  environments  and even  freshwater.  They  have  poor  eyesight  but  highly  developed  senses  of taste  and  smell.  They  feed primarily on fish and mollusks,  but will consume algae and other plant life and even other lobsters.

        Female  lobsters  carry their eggs under their abdomens for up to a year before  releasing  them  as larvae  into the water.  The  larvae  go  through  several  stages  in the  water  column  before settling  on the bottom, where they spend the rest of their lives. They generally  prefer to live in  self-dug burrows, in rocky crevices,  or  hidden  among  sea  grasses.  Lobsters  must  shed  their  shells  in  order  to  grow,  and  some species can live to be 50 years old  or more,  growmg continually throughout  their lives. Lobsters have not always been considered chic eats  In  17th- and 181h•century Amenca, they were so abundant  in the northeast  that  they were often  used as fertilizer.  Laws were  even  passed forbidding people  to feed  servants  lobster  more than twice  a week.  However,  improvements  in  U.S. transportation infrastructure in the 19th and 20th  century brought fresh lobster to distant urban areas,  and its  reputation  as a delicacy grew.

        Populations   of   commercially   important   lobster   species   are   thought   to   be   declining,   and overfishing,  particularly of clawed  lobsters  in  Europe, is  taking a toll.  Additionally,  pollution  is causing shell rot and other illnesses in  normally disease-resistant species.