It is not easy to fathom the complex, conflict-driven world of lobsters, but let us begin by looking at what it takes for a male lobster to 'score'. A male lobster usually has to establish himself as the 'main man' or alpha male in his territory by becoming the local boxing champion.
This process is something like a mobster action movie. Every night, he goes out and beats up all the other lobsters in the area and kicks them all out of their homes - just as a reminder of who's in charge. Lobsters have urine-release nozzles right under their eyes, and they squirt urine at each other's faces when fighting. The urine carries messages. It relays to other lobsters how aggressive or belligerent or dominant a lobster is.
The problem is that the alpha male is so belligerent that he's never in a mood for romance and the females, who find him extremely attractive, have to work rather hard to convince him that he is 'into' them. How do they do this? They urinate! They go to the dominant male's shelter entrance and squirt pheromone-laced urine into his lair during each visit.
This relaxes him and he starts to swoon a little bit. Then they do the little rituals, dance around a bit and get down to business.
