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The male American lobster is clawing his way toward hegemony. Scientists say his unusually large crusher claw compared with other species can be irresistible to female lobsters and menacing to less-endowed males.

This means war—or at least a trans-Atlantic trade war.

Claw size is at the center of a push by Sweden to ban imports of live Homarus americanus to all European Union countries. The effort began with the release of an 89-page report in December by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, featuring a full-color, half-page photo of an American lobster and 13 instances of the words “invasive alien species.”

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