A review: climate, contaminants and disease dynamics in lobster species Homarus americanus, Homarus gammarus and Jasus edwardsii.

Climate change, contaminant exposure, and emerging disease dynamics are increasingly recognized as interconnected stressors affecting marine crustaceans, including lobsters. This review compares three commercially and ecologically important species: Homarus americanus, Homarus gammarus, and Jasus edwardsii. Although these species differ taxonomically and ecologically, environmental stressors rarely act in isolation; climate change and contaminants interact to modify metabolic performance, molting, microbial dynamics and pathogen susceptibility. By synthesizing existing literature, this review identifies shared vulnerabilities and species-specific responses. Evidence suggests differences in thermal tolerance, developmental sensitivity and physiological plasticity, with early life stages consistently representing the most sensitive period across species. The American lobster has the strongest evidence linking warming waters to physiological stress and disease prevalence, particularly in Southern New England, whereas extensive research for European and Southern Rock lobsters remain limited. Across species, warming and ocean acidification often interact with contaminant exposure to alter immune function, molting, and recruitment. Key gaps remain in multi-stressor experiments, disease ecology and early life-stage research, emphasizing the need for integrative multi-stressor and cross-species frameworks to improve predictions of lobster resilience under accelerating environmental change.