First record of the American clawed lobster, Homarus americanus (H. Milne Edwards, 1837), in the southeastern Mediterranean

Two live specimens of American lobster, Homarus americanus, were observed in very shallow waters, in Caesarea, the central Mediterranean coast of Israel at the end of 2022. This is the first record of this species or any clawed lobster, family Nephropidae, in the warm southeastern Mediterranean. The carapace lengths of the lobsters were 92 and 94 mm, which corresponds with weights of around 600–640 grams, like that of live clawed lobsters imported to Israel from the North-Eastern USA. Although the origin of these lobsters is unknown, it is assumed that they have been released from a restaurant or a cruise ship. They may survive the winter in the Israeli water, but the high temperatures of the sea water during late-spring and summer in the southern Levantine basin will be stressful and lethal for them.