During this time, the lobster is highly vulnerable to predation and as a result they are usually very retiring until the new exoskeleton hardens fully.

The diet is mostly composed of mollusks and chitons,[3] but they also consume crustaceans, worms, sea urchins, detritus, vegetable material, and dead animals and fish they find on the bottom.

[11] Although they generally prefer to remain near cover, at times groups of hundreds will line up and march across the floor off Florida and the Bahamas.

[3] Individuals can be found at depths of up to 100 m (330 ft) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Beaufort, North Carolina,[3] including the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas and Bermuda,[3] with occasional reports from West Africa.

[2] It is the most important food export of the Bahamas, and rivals the shrimp industry in the Florida Keys in commercial value.

They are eagerly sought by both commercial lobstermen and sport divers in South Florida, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.

Divers catch them by gloved hand or net, often "tickling" them out of their dens with a dowel or small stick.

In the Bahamas and Caribbean, they are often also speared or gigged (Florida game regulations prohibit taking them by these methods).

In Bermuda, licensed individuals can only take lobsters by free-diving and using an approved noose within designated areas; all other methods and use of air tanks are prohibited.