text:
Talk:Lists of Marvel Comics characters

Additions
I took out Micronauts from the paragraph, since Micronauts are part of the Marvel Universe. I have a Micronauts comic where the X-men guest-star and the Microverse was a bigger factor of Marvel.

Guidelines

 * Disambiguation. If the character's name clearly could only mean a comics book character, then the entry should simply be the name: Spider-Man. If, on the other hand, the character's name could possibly be confused, then add the disambiguation phrase "(comics)" to the end of the entry; for example, the entry for Wolverine should be Wolverine (comics). For justification for this disambiguation phrase, see the section on disambiguation below.
 * Multiple Characters With the Same Name and Same Publisher. If the characters are related (example: Thunderbird (comics)), continue to use the disambiguation phrase "(comics)"; descriptions of each of the characters goes on the same page.
 * Multiple Characters With the Same Name but Different Publishers. If the character of one publisher is very prominent and the characters from the other publishers are obscure, then it is acceptable to continue using the disambiguation phrase "(comics)" and to place all the characters on the same page (example: Changeling (comics)). However, if several characters from different publishers are important, the characters should be split up into different pages using disambiguation phrases of the form "(Marvel Comics)", "(DC Comics)", etc. The page with the disambiguation phrase "(comics)" should be made a disambiguation phrase that simply points to the publisher-specific character pages.
 * Abbreviations. Abbreviations are not used. Thus, "Mister Fantastic", not "Mr. Fantastic", and "Doctor Octopus", not "Dr. Octopus". This is for the purpose of standardizing article names.
 * Codenames. Characters should be listed by codename, not by first and last name, except when the character is more well-known by first and last name than by any codename (examples: Jean Grey, Nick Fury). Thus, we should use Captain America and not "Steve Rogers" as the title of the article for the character.
 * Last Name, First Name.
 * If a character is usually known by a combination of first name and last name, then the character will be listed by first name (which puts it in accordance with the general Wikipedia convention of listing people by first name). For example, the primary link to Graydon Creed will be listed under "G", not "C". However, there should also be a link under "C", of the following form:
 * Creed, Graydon (see Graydon Creed)
 * Prominent public personalities. Characters with extremely well-known public personas (examples: Matt Murdock as superstar lawyer, Peter Parker as high school nerd and Daily Bugle photographer, Reed Richards as scientific genius, Tony Stark as billionaire industrialist) are also listed by their first and last names. For example:
 * Iron Man
 * Stark, Tony (see Iron Man)
 * Tony Stark (see Iron Man)
 * Same first letter of first and last name. If a character's first and last name start with the same letter, there is no need to make double entries based on first-name-first and last-name-first, since the entries would be close to one another anyway.
 * For the reasoning behind links of this form, besides the precedent of list of countries, see Talk:List of Marvel Comics characters/Archive 2.
 * Articles. Articles (like the word "The" in "The Beast") are not included in character names. However, redirects are fine; for example, The Beast could redirect to Beast (comics). The justification for not using articles is:
 * Other characters usually do not refer to the character with the article (a character talking to Beast does not say, "Watch out for that villain behind you, The Beast!", but rather simply says, "Watch out for that villain behind you, Beast!")
 * Marvel itself, in its published trading cards in the early 1990s, left off articles like "The" on the names of the character cards.
 * Over the years, comics companies have had a tendency to move away from articles. In the 1960s, using the word "The" was very popular with both Marvel and DC, but gradually, most characters who had the word "The" have dropped it.
 * Potentially confusing to users and editors of Wikipedia who are looking for a character and leave off the article.
 * Follows the precedents set by the article titles in such websites as (1) www.chronologyproject.com (2) www.marveldirectory.com/indivuals.htm (3) www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/appchar.htm, as well as the precedent set by the article titles in the Marvel Encyclopedia, published 2002 by Marvel Comics

Disambiguation
List of possible disambiguation phrases:

 * Storm (comics)
 * Storm (Marvel character)
 * Storm (Marvel Comics)
 * Storm (Marvel Comics character)
 * Storm (superhero)

The "(superhero)" or "(supervillain)" disambiguation phrase has several problems:
 * It is often not quite clear whether a character is a hero or a villain. Though usually considered a hero, the Punisher could be considered a villain (Bloodaxe follows the same methods, and is usually considered a villain). Similar cases of ambiguity of moral affiliation could be made for Deadpool, Elektra, Thanos, and many other characters. There are also characters without any moral affiliation at all (example: Living Tribunal).
 * It seems to limit characters to just the superhero genre, which is not the only genre of characters. Should we consider certain characters who have no special powers (e.g. supporting characters like Uncle Ben) to be heroes? What about characters with no superpowers, but just military training, like Nick Fury?
 * Another problem with the "(superhero)" or "(supervillain)" designation is that it is not necessarily gender-neutral. For example, for Storm, should she be Storm (superhero) or Storm (superheroine)? And for Lilith, should she be Lilith (supervillain) or Lilith (supervillainess)?
 * In an effort to standardize the disambiguation name, some Wikipedia users were using the phrase "(superhero)" even for characters that were clearly supervillains. This made the entries confusing.

The advantage of a disambiguation phrase including the word "Marvel" is that it makes it clear what character is being referred to in those cases where multiple comic book characters from different publishers share the same codename (example: Captain Marvel is used by both Marvel Comics and DC Comics). However, any disambiguation phrase including the word "Marvel" also has several problems:
 * Just using "(Marvel)" by itself as a disambiguation phrase is not acceptable, as it is too vague and could mean too many things. Thus, it is necessary that it be used in combination with others words, like "(Marvel Comics)", "(Marvel character)", etc. This makes the disambiguation phrase long and hard-to-remember.
 * Many non-comics fans won't know what Marvel is.
 * Marvel is currently popular in the mainstream; will it continue to be so years in the future?
 * What if Marvel Comics were bought by another company, as Wildstorm was bought by DC Comics?

The disambiguation phrase "(comics)" does not have the drawbacks mentioned above, and furthermore has several advantages:
 * It immediately makes the genre clear.
 * It is only a single word, and very simple, in comparison to a complicated, difficult-to-remember disambiguation phrase like "(Marvel Comics character)".
 * This is a disambiguation phrase that could be applied to teams like Generation X (comics) and alien races like Asgardians (comics) as well.

Topics currently under discussion

 * (From below) Merge The Sandman and Sandman (comics) in some meaningful way.

 * These should be merged to either The Sandman or The Sandman (comics). Especially in the wake of the Neil Gaiman series, using the definite article here is absolutely the right thing to do, since it's in the title of the comic, just as we have The Avengers (comics).

 * I also still feel that many individual characters should have the definite article in their page titles, and even more so that we should not be editing text of other pages to remove definite articles from sentences, since as I mentioned earlier text pieces referring to those characters generally use the definite article even today. It just seems wrong to refer to "Scarlet Witch" when everyone who isn't themselves personally speaking to The Scarlet Witch would refer to her with the definite article. -mhr 21:12, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * I added this as a discussion topic at Village pump, since I don't see the three of us participating in this debate as forming a consensus anytime soon, and Wikipedia doesn't seem to have an established standard for this issue. -mhr 21:43, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Things To Do
Hrm... I don't know why I'm putting this here and not under a DC Comics talk page... but we seem to have made decisions about the comic book genre here and not just about Marvel Comics.

 * 1) Merge The Sandman and Sandman (comics) in some meaningful way.

Archives of discussion

 * Talk:List of Marvel Comics characters/Archive 1 (archived on December 4, 2003)
 * Talk:List of Marvel Comics characters/Archive 2 (archived on December 15, 2003)

Disputed/Questionable Entries
Who is Barrak? Anonymous user, first post from that IP, misalphabetization and lack of wikification make me suspicious. Plus I've never heard of the guy. -leigh 09:29, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

 * I've reverted the addition.  —Lowellian (talk)   21:42, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

 * thanks:) -leigh (φθόγγος) 23:56, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

Why Two Lists?
Simple enough question - why are there two lists of characters? Dr Archeville 21:27, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Edit: 2-and-a-half lists -- I see an A-Z character list, followed by a second, longer A-Z character list, then an N-Z character list. Dr Archeville 21:41, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Number
Wouldn't it be a useful resource to know the number of characters? --Jamdav86 18:00, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

 * I would find it difficult since the list is ever changing and theres no definate number of Marvel Characters last time I checked -- Miss Maya Levy 14 September 2005

 * The number has been guestimated at over 5000 (as per Marvel's own website), but in no way has anyone (yet) pegged it to a number. The two best lists known are here and here. The second being more complete. The first being a (MediaWiki) wiki. I hope that helps! -- Jamie

Ghostrider
I thought he was one of your characters. I was wanting to get a cover picture of him. If he is or you know where I could go to find him would you email me at rickwallenconst@netscape.com   thanks,Rick

Professor Y?
A Professor Y was just added under Professor X. Is there actually a Professor Y, or are we dealing with a cheeky vandal here? Ragdoll 20:41, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Google has never heard of him. I suggest deletion. Mallanox 23:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Done. Ragdoll 19:45, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Video game characters?
Should characters from Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects be included on this list? To my knoweldge they've never been in any Marvel Comics comic, just the video game. Dr Archeville 19:33, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

all of those characters appeared in the marvel nemesis: the imperfect's mini series which was 6 issues long and it served as a prequel to the game

What is Arsenal doing under Marvels characters list?
As far as I know, Arsenal (formerly Speedy) is a DC comics character, and as one, he should not be put in the "List of Marvel Comics characters". Instead, he should be included in the "List of DC Comics characters", where he already exists. therefore, he should be excluded from the Marvel list seeing that he is not a Marvel comics character.
 * Is there a Marvel Comics character called Arsenal? It'd not be the first time both companies had characters with identical names. Dr Archeville 12:26, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

 * There have been two characters in Marvel called Arsenal. Both robots. They appeared in The Avengers and Iron Man. Mallanox 09:10, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

what happened to the known relative's lists?
what happened to the known relative's list on the character pages i found kang the conqueror's family tree quite amusing?

no it's on every page maybe hyperstorm's family tree was too big so they took them all out
 * I noticed the same with Baron Zemo. I thought it was just on his page. Has a template been altered? Mallanox 09:11, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Araki
Just to let you know i added Araki (comics) to the list after writing the article because he was missing from wikipedia and the list :-) (Neostinker 20:13, 10 October 2006 (UTC))

Help wanted
Some of you might have notice that I have been rewriting the power summaries on pretty much all the characters. While I believe that I have done a good job recent Wikipedia comic rules have come to light for me (WikiProject Comics/Superherobox example). Realizing this I know now that I have not done the summaries right.

Now I have gone through and reedited the summaries and made many "actual" summaries. But my one man crusade for change has drained me. My goal was to make all of the character pages as uniform as possible. Now realizing that I will need to go through them all agian is too much for just me.

Now I ask respectfully, becuase Im almost possitive that my edit wern't liked by at least a few, for help with this. Although its only a little bit of the page Ive seen that it can make it look alot better. Any help will be appreciated. I dont expect much, just a few people will be enough. Thefro552 00:29, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Removing redlinks
Hi. There used to be a template saying an article had too many redlinks, but that went out of use after a policy change. Unless there's a specific compelling reason stated in the edit summary or on the talk page, policy is not to remove most redlinks. Please discuss with the rest of the Comics Project before proceeding. Thanks. --Tenebrae 03:23, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

All of them are now re-added. By the way it would be much appreciated if someone would be kind enough to show me a link to the discussion abou this subject so I can read it for future reference. Thanks Thefro552 19:49, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Request for Comment: Intro
At the suggestion of User:Thefro552 to initiate discussion, this is a Request for Comment regarding the wording of a portion of the intro to List of Marvel Comics characters.

A previous version of the introduction here included a phrase saying "historically notable characters" are included. I myself inadvertently removed that phrase, and then simply reinserted it here. Since the list does list such extant minor but historically notable characters as Father Time and the Black Marvel, who each had a handful of appearances in the 1940s, I didn't believe I was "changing the rules", but reinserting something factual that was already there. --Tenebrae 03:35, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Statements by editors

 * Oh then thats my bad. Ive read through that paragraph a dozen times and I never saw that portion so I thought it was something you added. Sorry. But I still think that even minor charcters should stay. Notability is really about POV and I personally dont like that. Its called List of Marvel Comics Characters not List of Notable Marvel Comics characters. Thefro552 03:46, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Oh, hey, I'm with you — and please, no apology necessary. I agree — I think it's important to list, say, Marvel's first Asian hero, even if he only made one or two appearances. My interpretation of the phrase otherwise is that, say, "Police officer Jim Smith" who may have appeared in a single issue needn't be listed. Is that your take?--Tenebrae 03:49, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Well Im kinda crossed on that. In the case of your example yeah I dont think that Jim Smith should be on there. But not too long ago I added about a dozen small time depowered X-men characters, other mutents from the Xavier school.

 * Most of them dont have any real speaking parts but I beleive that since we knew there real names, there powers, and had a somewhat brief description of there history then they were alright. Thefro552 14:32, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Works for me. I vote for removing the line, going on the assumption that readers know that for any list, whether comics characters or tractors, non-notable things won't be on it.--Tenebrae 16:25, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

 * I think that should work. Thefro552 21:20, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Split
The list has been split alphabetically, similar to List of DC Comics characters (and subsequent pages), per (among other things) WP:SS and WP:AS. This should also help make the pages easier to read and edit. - jc37 09:28, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Merge with List of mutants in Marvel Comics
All of the mutants in Marvel Comics are also Marvel Comics characters, therefore the List of mutants in Marvel Comics is entirely duplicated on the List of Marvel Comics characters, with the addition of the non-mutant characters. It would make more sense to simply note on List of Marvel Comics characters which characters are mutants and have List of mutants in Marvel Comics redirect here. Neelix (talk) 21:58, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

List organisation
Okay, I've had a look through the lists for this article, and I'm going to admit it is leaving me more than a little confused in some cases. Can I suggest that, instead of having subsections interspersed between list items, we either have everything written into the list, or separate everything into subsections of articles themselves? --JB Adder | Talk 02:32, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Selection criteria
We should probably discuss this removal/replacement of content.

I believe these lists have been extremely bloated with truly insignificant characters. The original intent was not to catalogue every Marvel character - it was to provide a central location for basic information on characters who weren't independently notable but were linked inline from numerous other articles. I didn't review all the entries Name^5 removed, but what I did review warranted a barnstar for the effort.

Because of the extent of the bloat, individual discussions about each entry is impractical. I make two suggestions going forward: If any specific character removal is contested, it can be reverted and discussed on its own merits. Argento Surfer (talk) 13:19, 19 June 2018 (UTC)
 * 1) That Name^5 continue to identify the removed entries by name in the edit summary.
 * 2) That Name^5 remove only one/two entry at a time to make restoration easier.
 * Well, what did with some of the entries left the redirects without a section to redirect to. Either those sections get restored, their pages get restored, or those redirect parts get deleted. Anyone have any suggestions? --Rtkat3 (talk) 15:18, 23 June 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure what exactly my opinion counts for since I'm the one deleting the sections, but I'm in favor of deleting the redirects. Namenamenamenamename (talk) 15:27, 23 June 2018 (UTC)
 * The articles were redirected because the pages weren't independently notable, so restoring isn't an option (unless they have since become notable, but those will be very rare). They could be re-targeted to a page that still contains some information on the character. Argento Surfer (talk) 17:17, 23 June 2018 (UTC)
 * It would be as if we wanted to redirect them to their sections like the member sub-sections for the Death-Throws, the Savage Land Mutates, and the U-Foes. Like for Gorgeous George and the rest of the Nasty Boys for example, they would have to have subsections under the Nasty Boys page. Right? --Rtkat3 (talk) 16:01, 24 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Here is another suggestion. We can revive the List of minor Marvel Comics characters page and redirect all removed entries to that page so that those who don't have redirects to the other sections that they were removed from can go there. What do you think? --Rtkat3 (talk) 14:29, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Rtkat3 brought me to this discussion. It seems that he already revived the List of minor Marvel Comics characters page. I don't see why that page is necessary, since we already have individual lists of Marvel Comics characters here. I am in favor of deleting the redirects if the characters are not notable enough for their own sections. Natg 19 (talk) 17:33, 10 October 2018 (UTC)
 * I also support deleting redirects if there is no suitable target. Argento Surfer (talk) 19:21, 10 October 2018 (UTC)
 * I was able to redirect some of the members of the Morlocks, the Nasty Boys, and Circus of Crime to their group pages. --Rtkat3 (talk) 15:46, 11 October 2018 (UTC)

Proposed merge with List of Marvel Comics mutates
These characters are all Marvel Comics characters, and it seems kind of redundant. There's precedent for this with the "List of mutants in Marvel Comics" page. Namenamenamenamename (talk) 21:38, 2 February 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Lists of Marvel Comics characters


text:
American lobster

The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. It is also known as Atlantic lobster, Canadian lobster, true lobster, northern lobster, Canadian Reds, or Maine lobster. It can reach a body length of 64 cm, and a mass of over 20 kg, making it not only the heaviest crustacean in the world, but also the heaviest of all living arthropod species. Its closest relative is the European lobster Homarus gammarus, which can be distinguished by its coloration and the lack of spines on the underside of the rostrum. American lobsters are usually bluish green to brown with red spines, but several color variations have been observed.

Distribution
Homarus americanus is distributed along the Atlantic coast of North America, from Labrador in the north to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the south. South of New Jersey, the species is uncommon, and landings in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina usually make up less than 0.1% of all landings. A fossil claw assigned to Homarus americanus was found at Nantucket, dating from the Pleistocene. In 2013, an American lobster was caught at the Farallon Islands off the coast of California. It has been introduced to Norway and potentially Iceland.

Description
Homarus americanus commonly reaches 8 - 24 in long and weighs 1 - 9 lb in weight, but has been known to weigh as much as 44 lb, making this the heaviest crustacean in the world. Together with Sagmariasus verreauxi, it is also the longest decapod crustacean in the world; an average adult is about 9 in long and weighs 1.5 to 2 lb. The longest American lobsters have a body (excluding claws) 64 cm long. According to Guinness World Records, the heaviest crustacean ever recorded was an American lobster caught off Nova Scotia, Canada, weighing 44.4 lb.

The closest relative of H. americanus is the European lobster, Homarus gammarus. The two species are very similar, and can be crossed artificially, although hybrids are unlikely to occur in the wild since their ranges do not overlap. The two species can be distinguished by several characteristics:
 * The rostrum of H. americanus bears one or more spines on the underside, which are lacking in H. gammarus.
 * The spines on the claws of H. americanus are red or red-tipped, while those of H. gammarus are white or white-tipped.
 * The underside of the claw of H. americanus is orange or red, while that of H. gammarus is creamy white or very pale red.

Head
The antennae measure about 2 in long and split into Y-shaped structures with pointed tips. Each tip exhibits a dense zone of hair tufts staggered in a zigzag arrangement. These hairs are covered with multiple nerve cells that can detect odors. Larger, thicker hairs found along the edges control the flow of water, containing odor molecules, to the inner sensory hairs. The shorter antennules provide a further sense of smell. By having a pair of olfactory organs, a lobster can locate the direction a smell comes from, much the same way humans can hear the direction a sound comes from. In addition to sensing smells, the antennules can judge water speed to improve direction finding.

Lobsters have two urinary bladders, located on either side of the head. Lobsters use scents to communicate what and where they are, and those scents are in the urine. They project long plumes of urine 1 - 2 m in front of them, and do so when they detect a rival or a potential mate in the area.

Thorax
The first pair of pereiopods (legs) is armed with a large, asymmetric pair of claws. The larger one is the "crusher", and has rounded nodules used for crushing prey; the other is the "cutter" or "gripper", which has sharp inner edges and is used for holding or tearing the prey. Whether the crusher claw is on the left side or right side of its body determines whether a lobster is left or right "handed".

Coloration
The normal coloration of Homarus americanus is bluish green to brown with red spines due to a mixture of yellow, blue, and red pigments that occur naturally in the shell. On rare occasions these colors are distorted due to genetic mutations or conditions creating a spectacle for those who catch them. In 2012 it was reported that there has been an increase in these "rare" catches due to unclear reasons. Social media influence making reporting and sharing more accessible to a drop in predator populations have been suggested as possible reasons. The lobsters mentioned below thus usually receive media coverage due to their rarity and eye appeal.

Life cycle
Mating only takes place shortly after the female has molted and her exoskeleton is still soft. The female releases a pheromone which causes the males to become less aggressive and to begin courtship, which involves a courtship dance with claws closed. Eventually, the male inserts spermatophores (sperm packets) into the female's seminal receptacle using his first pleopods; the female may store the sperm for up to 15 months.

The female releases eggs through her oviducts, and they pass the seminal receptacle and are fertilized by the stored sperm. They are then attached to the female's pleopods (swimmerets) using an adhesive, where they are cared for until they are ready to hatch. The female cleans the eggs regularly and fans them with water to keep them oxygenated. The large telolecithal eggs may resemble the segments of a raspberry, and a female carrying eggs is said to be "in berry". Since this period lasts 10–11 months, berried females can be found at any time of year. In the waters off New England, the eggs are typically laid in July or August, and hatch the following May or June. The developing embryo passes through several molts within the egg, before hatching as a metanauplius larva. When the eggs hatch, the female releases them by waving her tail in the water, setting batches of larvae free.

The metanauplius of H. americanus is 1/3 in long, transparent, with large eyes and a long spine projecting from its head. It quickly molts, and the next three stages are similar, but larger. These molts take 10–20 days, during which the planktonic larvae are vulnerable to predation; only 1 in 1,000 is thought to survive to the juvenile stage. To reach the fourth stage – the post-larva – the larva undergoes metamorphosis, and subsequently shows a much greater resemblance to the adult lobster, is around 1/2 in long, and swims with its pleopods. At this stage, the lobster's claws are still relatively small so they rely primarily on tail-flip escapes if threatened.

After the next molt, the lobster sinks to the ocean floor and adopts a benthic lifestyle. It molts more and more infrequently, from an initial rate of ten times per year to once every few years. After one year it is around 1 - 1.5 in long, and after six years it may weigh 1 lb. By the time it reaches the minimum landing size, an individual may have molted 25–27 times, and thereafter each molt may signal a 40%–50% increase in weight, and a 14% increase in carapace length. If threatened, adult lobsters will generally choose to fight unless they have lost their claws.

Ecology
The American lobster thrives in cold, shallow waters where there are many rocks and other places to hide from predators. It typically lives at a depth of 4 - 50 m, but can be found up to 480 m below the surface.

Diet
The natural diet of H. americanus is relatively consistent across different habitats. It is dominated by mollusks (especially mussels, clams and snails), echinoderms and polychaetes, although a wide range of other prey items may be eaten, including other crustaceans (such as crabs), brittle stars, cnidarians and small fish. It will also feed on dead animals, as well as algae and eelgrass. Since lobsters sometimes eat their own molted shell, they were thought to be cannabalistic, but this has never been recorded in the wild. Lobsters in Maine have been shown to gain 35–55% of their calories from herring, which is used as bait for lobster traps. Only 6% of lobsters entering lobster traps to feed are caught.

Bacterial
Gaffkaemia or red-tail is an extremely virulent infectious disease of lobsters caused by the bacterium Aerococcus viridans. It only requires a few bacterial cells to cause death of otherwise healthy lobsters. The "red tail" common name refers to a dark orange discoloration of the ventral abdomen of affected lobsters. This is, in fact, the hemolymph or blood seen through the thin ventral arthrodial membranes. The red discoloration comes from astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment exported to the blood during times of stress. The same sign is also seen in other diseases of lobsters and appears to be a nonspecific stress response, possibly relating to the antioxidant and immunostimulatory properties of the astaxanthin molecule.

Epizootic shell disease is a bacterial infection which causes black lesions on the lobsters' dorsal carapaces, reducing their saleability and sometimes killing the lobsters.

Limp lobster disease caused by systemic infection by the bacterium Vibrio fluvialis (or similar species) causes lobsters to become lethargic and die.

Parasitic
Paramoebiasis is an infectious disease of lobsters caused by infection with the sarcomastigophoran (amoeba) Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis. This organism also causes amoebic gill disease in farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. Infection occurs throughout the tissues, causing granuloma-like lesions, especially within the ventral nerve cord, the interstices of the hepatopancreas and the antennal gland. Paramoebiasis is strongly suspected to play a prominent role in the rapid die-off of American lobsters in Long Island Sound that occurred in the summer of 1999.

Environmental
Excretory calcinosis in American lobsters in Long Island Sound was described in 2002. The disease causes mineralized calculi to form in the antennal glands and gills. These cause a loss of surface area around the gills, and the lobster eventually asphyxiates. Several reasons have been proposed for the cause of a recent outbreak of the disease. The most generally attributed factor is an increased duration of warmer temperatures in the bottom of the Long Island Sound.

Plastic pollution is harmful for American lobsters. Consumption of microplastic particles may be deadly to early-stage larvae. For later stage larvae, oxygen consumption rate decreases with high level of microplastic fibers.

Taxonomy
The American lobster was first described by Thomas Say in 1817, with a type locality of "Long-branch, part of the coast of New Jersey". The name Say chose – "Astacus marinus" – was invalid as a junior homonym of Astacus marinus Fabricius, 1775, which is in turn a junior synonym of Homarus gammarus. The American lobster was given its current scientific name of Homarus americanus by Henri Milne-Edwards in his 1837 work Histoire naturelle des Crustacés ("Natural History of the Crustacea"). The common name preferred by the Food and Agriculture Organization is "American lobster", but the species is also known locally as the "northern lobster", "Maine lobster" or simply "lobster".

As food
American lobsters are a popular food. They are commonly boiled or steamed. Hard-shells (lobsters that are several months past their last molt) can survive out of water for up to four or five days if kept refrigerated. Soft-shells (lobsters that have only recently molted) do not survive more than a few hours out of water. Lobsters are usually cooked alive, which may be illegal in certain areas and which some people consider inhumane.

Lobster 'tail' (actually the abdomen) is sometimes served with beef as surf and turf. Lobsters have a greenish or brownish organ called the tomalley, which, like the liver and pancreas in a human, filters out toxins from the body. Some diners consider it a delicacy, but others avoid it because they consider it a toxin source; dislike eating innards; or are put off by its texture and appearance, that of a grainy greenish paste.

A set of nutcrackers and a long, thin tool for pulling meat from inaccessible areas are suggested as basics, although more experienced diners can eat the animal with their bare hands or a simple tool (a fork, knife or rock). Eating a lobster can get messy, and most restaurants offer a lobster bib. Meat is generally contained in the larger claws and tails, and stays warm quite a while after being served. There is some meat in the legs and in the arms that connect the large claws to the body. There is also some small amount of meat just below the carapace around the thorax and in the smaller legs.

North American lobster industry

Most lobsters come from the northeastern coast of North America, with the Atlantic Provinces of Canada and the U.S. state of Maine being the largest producers. They are caught primarily using lobster traps, although lobsters are also harvested as bycatch by bottom trawlers, fishermen using gillnets, and by scuba divers in some areas. Maine prohibits scuba divers from catching lobsters; violations are punishable by fines of up to $1000. Maine also prohibits the landing of lobsters caught by bottom trawlers and other "mobile gear". Massachusetts offers scuba divers lobster licenses for a fee, and they are only available to state residents. Rhode Island also requires divers to acquire a permit.

Lobster traps are rectangular cages made of vinyl-coated galvanized steel mesh or wood, with woven mesh entrances. These are baited and lowered to the sea floor. They allow a lobster to enter, but make it difficult for the larger specimens to turn around and exit. This allows the creatures to be captured alive. The traps, sometimes referred to as "pots", have a buoy floating on the surface, and lobstermen check their traps between one and seven days after setting them. The inefficiency of the trapping system has inadvertently prevented the lobster population from being overfished. Lobsters can easily escape the trap, and will defend the trap against other lobsters because it is a source of food. An estimated 10% of lobsters that encounter a trap enter, and of those that enter 6% will be caught.

United States
In the United States, the lobster industry is regulated. Every lobster fisher is required to use a lobster gauge to measure the distance from the lobster's eye socket to the end of its carapace: if the lobster is less than 3.25 in long, it is too young to be sold and must be released back to the sea. There is also a legal maximum size of 5 in in Maine, meant to ensure the survival of a healthy breeding stock of adult males, but in parts of some states, such as Massachusetts, there is none. Also, traps must contain an escape hole or "vent", which allows juvenile lobsters and bycatch species to escape. The law in Maine and other states dictates a second large escape hole or "ghost panel" must be installed. This hole is held shut through use of degradable clips made of ferrous metal. Should the trap become lost, the trap eventually opens, allowing the catch to escape.

To protect known breeding females, lobsters caught carrying eggs are to be notched on a tail flipper (second from the right, if the lobster is right-side up and the tail is fully extended). Following this, the female cannot be kept or sold, and is commonly referred to as a "punch-tail" or as "v-notched". This notch remains for two molts of the lobster exoskeleton, providing harvest protection and continued breeding availability for up to five years.

Canada
In Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for the governance of fisheries under the authority of the Fisheries Act. The governance structure also includes various other acts, regulations, orders and policies. American Lobster is fished in Canada by lobster licence holders hailing from ports located in provinces on Canada's east coast. Lobster is Canada's most valuable seafood export, worth over CAD$2 billion in 2016.

Management
American lobster tends to have a stable stock in colder northern waters, but gradually decreases in abundance moving southward. To manage lobster populations, more regulations and restrictions, geared towards achieving sustainable populations, are implemented gradually southward.

Genetics
Currently there is no published genome for the American lobster, although a transcriptome was published in 2016.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: American lobster


text:
MiNT

MiNT (MiNT is Now TOS) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST series. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES graphical user interface widgets, and TeraDesk file manager, MiNT provides a free TOS compatible replacement OS that can multitask.

History
Work on MiNT began in 1989, as the developer Eric Smith was trying to port the GNU library and related utilities on the Atari ST TOS. It soon became much easier to add a Unix-like layer to the TOS, than to patch all of the GNU software, and MiNT began as a TOS extension to help in porting.

MiNT was originally released by Eric Smith as "MiNT is Not TOS" (a recursive acronym in the style of "GNU's Not Unix") in May 1990. The new Kernel got traction, with people contributing a port of the MINIX file system and a port to the Atari TT.

At the same time, Atari was looking to enhance the TOS with multitasking abilities. MiNT could fulfill the job, and Atari hired Eric Smith. MiNT was adopted as an official alternative kernel with the release of the Atari Falcon, slightly altering the MiNT acronym into "MiNT is Now TOS". Atari bundled MiNT with a multitasking version of the Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) under the name MultiTOS as a floppy disk based installer.

After Atari left the computer market, MiNT development continued as FreeMiNT, and became maintained by a team of volunteers. FreeMiNT development follows a classic open-source approach, with the source code hosted on a publicly browsable FreeMiNT Git repository on GitHub and development discussed in a public mailing list., which is maintained on SourceForge, after an earlier (2014) move from AtariForge, where it was maintained for almost 20 years.

MiNT software ecosystem
FreeMiNT provides only a kernel, so several distributions support MiNT, like VanillaMint, EasyMint, STMint, and BeeKey/BeePi.

Although FreeMiNT can use the graphical user interface of the TOS (the Graphics Environment Manager GEM and the Application Environment Services or AES), it is better served with an enhanced AES which can use its multi-tasking abilities.

The default one is currently XaAES, which is developed as a FreeMiNT kernel module. The older N.AES also works, however the modern alternative is MyAES.

title: MiNT


text:
Michelle Reis

Michelle Monique Reis (born Michele Monique Reis, 20 June 1970) is a Hong Kong former actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder of Macanese descent. In 1988, she won the Miss Chinese International Pageant and Miss Hong Kong beauty pageants. Afterwards, she became a prominent actress in 1990s Hong Kong, often appearing in introspective and independent fare rather than mainstream releases.

Reis often played dynamic characters, with a significant number of her roles centering around characters deemed more "difficult" to portray in Hong Kong cinema, such as prostitutes, femme fatales, and professional killers. Known for her youthful beauty and often deemed "one of the most beautiful women in Asia", Reis has continued to remain in the public eye long after her film career subsided in the early 2000s. Outside of the Chinese-speaking world, she is most famous for her role as the Hitman's Assistant in Fallen Angels (1995), which brought her critical acclaim internationally, as well as status as a cult film character and saw her nominated for “Best Actress" at the 1996 Golden Bauhinia Awards.

Early life
Reis was born in Hong Kong, then a British colony, on 20 June 1970 as Michele Monique Reis. She did not acquire her Chinese name, Lee Ka Yan or Li Jiaxin (李嘉欣), until after elementary school. She is of mixed ancestry; her father, Francis Reis, was a Hong Kong-born ethnically Portuguese Macanese, and her mother, Wu Guofang (Chinese: 吴国芳), is Chinese and was raised in Shanghai before moving to British Hong Kong after World War II. Reis also has an older sister, born in August 1962, known as "Yuet Chi" (Joanna Francisca Reis or Li Jiaming; 李嘉明). She is Catholic.

Her father, a member of the Hong Kong Volunteers, was captured by the Japanese when defending Hong Kong in 1941 during World War II and was imprisoned by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Sham Shui Po Barracks for two years. Francis was reportedly popular and well-liked by the other prisoners. Still, because of his height, he was sent to work in coal mines in Sendai, Japan, until Japan's surrender. After the liberation of Hong Kong in 1945, he returned to Hong Kong, married Michelle's mother, and entered a business career.

In 1973, a modeling scout discovered Reis, and she was subsequently shot in a one-time baby advertisement.

Reis recalls her childhood as an unhappy one. She recalls her childhood being devoid of toys or new clothes and dominated by "her mother's tears and parents' endless bickering". Her father became more absent, resulting in Reis being raised primarily by her mother. Francis Reis was unsuccessful in his career, "achieving nothing", resulting in the family living in poverty. Wu Guofang, Reis' mother, worked two jobs a day to provide for the family. The family lived in a tin roof house, which they built themselves and was typical of Hong Kong's impoverished, and then lived in the highly dense and impoverished Chungking Mansions. Conditions at the tin roof house were very poor, with summers being extremely hot and rain easily dripping through cracks in their roof.

In 1982, when she was 12, Reis filmed a second advertisement.

At 14, she began part-time studies as a student, which her mother emphasised, completing these studies by modelling part-time. During her studies, modelling scouts offered her casting and commercial film opportunities, but Reis declined as she wanted to be a flight attendant. Reis attended Maryknoll Convent School and matriculated from St. Paul's Secondary School throughout her studies. At Maryknoll Convent School, she received excellent grades, with 2A (English, Bible) results and ranking 7B in the five-year secondary education graduation exam.

Many years after Reis' father abandoned the family and as Reis began to become well-known in Hong Kong, he tried to contact Reis by phone, asking for money. Despite her worries about his deteriorating health, she had no intention of reconnecting. Years later, Reis recalled the phone call, which she found hurtful.

Education
Reis attended Maryknoll Convent School.

Beauty queen career and early actress career (1988–1993)
In 1988, after encouragement from others, Reis auditioned for the 1988 Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She was predicted to win the "Best Photogenic Award", which gave Reis the self-confidence to continue on this career path. However, Sheila Chin won the "Best Photogenic Award" instead. She reportedly cried after leaving the stage. However, her mother's words reminded Reis that the road to success was difficult and that there would be many setbacks in the future on this career path, which proved highly influential and inspirational to Reis, encouraging her to press ahead with the Miss Hong Kong Pageant. The competition between Reis and Sheila Chin was tense in the pageant and was "neck-to-neck". Reis won the pageant, becoming Miss Hong Kong 1988 at the age of 18 and winning the contest's "Miss International Goodwill" title. While both women would soon receive entertainment careers, with both taking a direction towards acting, Reis would, by the mid-1990s, ultimately become a more acclaimed celebrity than Chin, with distinctive film roles. Later that year, in late 1988, Reis would also become the first Miss Chinese International and was awarded the "Best Photogenic Award". Following her Miss Chinese International crowning, she participated in the Miss World 1988 pageant in London, where she promoted the image of Hong Kong. Continuing her newfound status as an acclaimed beauty queen, Reis was then supposed to compete in the Miss Universe 1989 pageant but withdrew due to health problems, citing "personal reasons".

Reis would later reveal in 1998 that her beauty queen career proved to be a difficult time for her, stating: “The Miss Hong Kong time was very confusing for me. I wouldn’t have the courage to do it again.” After spending a year as the "Miss International Goodwill" Ambassador, a title she received from the Miss Hong Kong 1988 pageant, Reis later remarked that she "wasn’t sure what I would do after it." As is customary for many Miss Hong Kong winners, Reis would receive a career offer from TVB – with Mona Fong, the Deputy chairman and general manager of TVB, personally stepping forward and trying her best to persuade Reis to sign a contract. Fong offered Reis very favourable conditions, such as not pushing Reis to star in the TV station's low budget series, which is what usually happens with new, young faces in TVB, as well as offering Reis more beyond a normal monthly salary. As such, Reis soon appeared in a 5-episode TVB drama series called “I Do I Do” (花月佳期), which aired in late March 1989. While the drama is fairly unremarkable, it marked the first acting role of Reis, who had had no formal acting training when she was offered a contract by TVB, and later remarked that filming the series "seemed like the right thing to do." In 1990, having first worked in commercials, appearing in music videos and then on TVB television episodes, Reis made her formal entry into showbiz with her first film roles such as Declaration Of Help (1990) – her film debut – and although a newcomer to films, played a role such as the "rebel sister" Yuet Chi / Moon in her second film, A Chinese Ghost Story Part II (1990). That year, she would also go on to star in comedies like No Risk, No Gain (1990), starring as Winnie, and as a streetwise tough beauty in Perfect Girls (1990). Her next films, in the years 1990–1993 would mostly be comedies, and she would often play roles dependent on her beauty. As such, she would to some degree cultivate an idol image, starring in popular films such as The Banquet (1991), Royal Tramp II (1992), and replacing Cecilia Yip in starring as the tomboyish disciple Kiddo in Swordsman II (1992) – starring alongside her favourite actress Brigitte Lin. Reis would also star in A Kid from Tibet (1992). However, Reis also starred in some roles in this early part of her acting career that would distinctly represent her acting style, and bring her out as an actress. These included starring as "Windy" in the anime-inspired, science-fiction future noir The Wicked City (1992), where her full-mouthed looks were deemed just right for the anime-inspired film, and her performance as an actress was brought out significantly in a way previously not before. Telling a story of conflicts and relationship between demon-like creatures and humans in 1990s Hong Kong, the film was a big success, being one of the most popular Tsui Hark productions in the USA and Europe, and still playing in festivals and midnight screenings around the USA and Europe. Reis would also dominate the film's promotional material.

Actress breakthrough (1993–1995)
By the dawn of the mid-1990s however, most of Reis’ film roles, with the exception of a few notable, acclaimed roles, had been relatively undemanding, being mainly known for her minor girl-next-door, "nice girl" roles, and she was often only used for simply window dressing, a common phenomenon amongst good-looking talents in Hong Kong's entertainment industry. Ambitious and wishing to attempt further, more elaborate roles with greater complexity, such as successful women, women with sex appeal, editresses or "mad women", Reis expanded the scope of her acting career significantly from 1993. Starring in Jet Li’s movie The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (1993), she starred as the beautiful Ting-Ting. The film was a box office hit and Reis then starred in its sequel released later that year, Fong Sai-Yuk II (1993). Moving into television, Reis began to increase the complexity of her roles as she so desired, starring as the beautiful and deceptive top agent of a doomsday cult in the cross-genre TVB drama The Legendary Ranger (1993) alongside her good friend Leon Lai. The drama's eclectic setting and merger of wuxia, science fiction and fantasy genres, as well as its visual aesthetic was considered at the time groundbreaking in Hong Kong, and the demented mixture of beauty and darkness in the acting material Reis worked with cemented her signature acting style. In The Black Morning Glory (1993), Reis was to establish her acting style a step further – playing a complex dual-role as a professional killer employed by the Japanese yakuza. The film also dealt into the mental complexity of Reis’ character, with a drama-based storyline that sees her character fend off the police and yakuza while also attempting to reconcile with her own turmoil after she realises who she has killed. The film would then go on to serve as premise for Reis starring in The Other Side of the Sea (1994), where Reis would again portray a cold-blooded professional killer who must reckon with going on the run and betrayal after becoming disillusioned with a life of killing.

By 1995, Reis would star again alongside Leon Lai; this time in Wong Kar-wai’s neo-noir crime thriller Fallen Angels (1995), playing a sexually frustrated, jealous, cold-blooded hitman's assistant. Reis’ character was a notable departure from her earlier roles, allowing herself to be filmed at fisheye lens angles, in grungy colours and with an appearance that was glamorously-dressed, stylish, and decidedly grunge, an appearance that would become emblematic of Reis’ style, but at times also dishevelled in contrast to the polished appearance of her Miss Hong Kong days. Reis’ character was described as a "chain-smoking, quivering, obsessive mess who faxes kill-plans and masturbates in PVC fetish dresses", and was also interpreted as a ironic depiction of supermodel glamour or MTV music videos. Fully declaring herself as an actress, and breaking away completely from any kind of innocent or clean-cut image in a way that likely shocked many of her fans, Reis received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the role and immediately established herself as an A-list actress, becoming amongst Hong Kong's most famous actresses. Fallen Angels would go on to become a cult classic of the "Golden Age" of Hong Kong cinema, and Reis’ film character would also become a cult film character and a grunge icon – a reputation Reis has continued to have to this day. The role would also establish Reis as having fame beyond the Chinese-speaking world, becoming her most well-known role outside of the Chinese-speaking world. The role has often been called as the “bravest film choice" in Reis’ film career, marking a moment where she began to build a reputation for starring in introspective and high-quality movies, and by far her most iconic role – it has also been called her "very best performance".

Continued film and modelling success (1995-early 2000s)
After the success of Fallen Angels, Reis’ film output began to fall dramatically, with only 8 films over the next 5 years, representing how she was only willing to only star in higher-quality movies with more challenging film roles, though she continued to pick up large success in her modelling work. In 1996, she starred as Laura in 13 July (1996), a horror film about mental problems, suicide, and sleepless pressure in the chaos of Hong Kong city life. In 1997, Reis starred in the action sci-fi mystery thriller Armageddon (1997) as Adele, Andy Lau’s character's dead fiancé. The film was visually and thematically a departure from many other works in Hong Kong cinema at the time, and she also starred in Young And Dangerous IV (1997), the fourth film in the hugely-popular Young and Dangerous series of films. By the late 1990s, Reis’ career was also taking her abroad for further success – Reis was so popular in Japan that she was able to pick up "millions" from a day's work of working in Tokyo, and she was also doing a lot of advertising work in Los Angeles.

Around the 21st century, Reis began to withdraw from acting to focus on family and charity businesses whilst making occasional public appearances. Her last role to date was 2009's Bodyguards and Assassins.

On 25 December 2021, Reis made an appearance as a guest/main judge on HK Television Entertainment's fourth season of the talent variety show King Maker (Chinese: 全民造星IV), sparking internet discussion and hype.

Personal life
On 23 November 2008, following a public two-year courtship, Reis married business tycoon Julian Hui, son of real-estate billionaire Hui Sai Fun (1921–2018). Their son Jayden Max Hui was born on 8 February 2011. His initials are derived from the first initials, "J" and "M", of his parents' names.

In 2007, a viral audio of Reis and business tycoon Joseph Lau leaked onto the internet caused controversy, in which Reis and Lau had a heated argument regarding actresses he had signed, including Ada Choi and Catherine Hung. Reis' use of profanity directed at Lau led netizens to imply the two to be in a relationship and being able to swear profusely behind his wife's back during that time, although the quality and time has indicated it originated from the 90s. Reis' famous line "I'm really gonna congratulate you/I give my congratulations!" is often used by people nowadays as a sarcastic manner online or in real life.

On 15 January 2022, Reis was rushed to ICU after a near death experience due to breathing complications.

Partial filmography
Sources:

 * No Risk, No Gain (1990) – Winnie
 * A Chinese Ghost Story Part II (1990) – Yuet Chi / Moon
 * Perfect Girls (1990) – Lo Hsaio-Hsiao
 * Qiang qian xiong di zhi zei yu shi da e (1990)
 * Doctor's Heart (1990) – Anita Yeung
 * Party of a Wealthy Family (1991) – Kar-Yan Li
 * A Kid from Tibet (1991) – Chiu Seng-Neng
 * Swordsman II (1992) – Kiddo
 * Casino Tycoon II (1992) – Ti Yun
 * Royal Tramp II (1992) – Li Ming-ke / A-ke
 * Zen of Sword (1992) – Princess Choi Siu-Ling
 * The Wicked City (1992) – Wan-Gei
 * The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (1993) – Ting Ting
 * The Sword of Many Loves (1993) – Ching Ling
 * The Black Morning Glory (1993) – Michelle Lam Man-Ting / Fan Lin
 * The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk II (1993) – Ting Ting
 * Drunken Master III (1994) – Sum Yu
 * The Other Side of the Sea (1994) – Yip Man-Sau
 * Fallen Angels (1995) – The Killer's Agent
 * 100 Ways to Kill Yourself (1996) – Laura
 * Heaven Earth Great Ambition (1997) – Adele
 * Young and Dangerous 4 (1997) – Lee Yan-Kin
 * Flowers of Shanghai (1998) – Emerald
 * Prince Charming (1999) – 'Ice' Poa
 * Round About Midnight (1999) – Linda
 * The Island Tales (2000) – Sharon
 * When I Fall in Love... with Both (2000) – Cecilia / Xixi (Chinese pinyin transliteration)
 * The City of Strangers (2000) – Jackie Fong
 * Healing Hearts (2000) – Kei
 * Bakery Amour (2001) – Lok To
 * Every Dog Has His Date (2001) – Sharon Lee
 * Beauty and the Breast (2002) – Yuki
 * The Irresistible Piggies (2002) – Mo
 * Miss Du Shi Niang (2003) – Lady Ten
 * Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) – Prince Lau's lover (final film role)

Name as a wordplay
In mainland China in 2010, it was a popular meme for several Chinese white-collar workers to display images of Michelle Reis at the office to subtly ask for a raise in salary because her Chinese name Jiāxīn (嘉欣) is an exact homophone of 加薪 ("pay raise") in Mandarin Chinese, and is a near-homophone in Cantonese language (ga1yan1/ga1san1).

title: Michelle Reis


text:
Gulf Air

Gulf Air (طيران الخليج) is the flag carrier of Bahrain, which was founded in 1950. Headquartered in Muharraq, the airline operates scheduled flights to 61 destinations in 30 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe. The airline's main hub is at Bahrain International Airport.

Gulf Air currently serves all its destinations with a mixed fleet consisting of the narrow-body Airbus A320, Airbus A321 and Airbus A320neo family aircraft, as well as the wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Gulf Air is the sponsor of the Bahrain Grand Prix and Bahrain International Airshow. It is certified as a 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax, becoming one of just sixteen airlines and the third airline in the world and in the Middle East respectively to achieve this top recognition. Dubai–International is the busiest route served by the airline, with over 95 flights a week back and forth.

1949–1973: Gulf Aviation
In the late 1940s, Freddie Bosworth, a British pilot and entrepreneur, began an air taxi service to Doha and Dhahran from Bahrain, registering the Gulf Aviation Company Limited on 24 March 1950. In October 1951, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) became a major shareholder in Gulf Aviation, holding a 22% stake through the BOAC subsidiary company BOAC Associated Companies. By the early 70's Gulf Aviation's fleet included three Fokker F27 and two BAC 1-11 aircraft, serving destinations such as Bahrain, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait. Their timetable also included twice-weekly flights to London, although these were operated by BOAC Vickers VC10.

1974: Gulf Air established
In 1973 the governments of the Emirate (now Kingdom) of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman agreed to purchase the BOAC Associated Companies holding in Gulf Aviation. The Foundation Treaty was signed on 1 January 1974 and gave each government a 25% shareholding in Gulf Aviation, which became a holding company. The operating company was now branded as Gulf Air and became the flag carrier for the four states. Gulf Air inherited a variety of aircraft from Gulf Aviation, repainting them with new titles and colour scheme, and transfering them to the A4O- register. But most significantly they gained five ex-BOAC Vickers VC10s allowing them to commence a full schedule with flights on every day of the week to London, and also regular services new destinations such as Bombay, Karachi, Amman, Cairo, Beirut and Athens.

With Lockheed L-1011 Tristar and Boeing 737 aircraft joining the fleet, by 1976 Gulf Air had expanded its route network to include Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bombay, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Delhi, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Karachi, Khartoum, Larnaca, Manila, Paris, Ras al-Khaimah and Sana'a. As more Lockheed L-1011s and Boeing 737-200s arrived, the VC10s and BAC One-Elevens were phased out.

1980s–1992: expansion
The 1980s saw an increase in air travel and growth for Gulf Air. In 1981, Gulf Air became an IATA member, and in the following year became the first international airline to land at Riyadh. In 1985, Emirates, the airline of the Emirate of Dubai, began operating. During their first year of operations, Gulf Air profits fell 30%, prompting the airline to drop its privatization plans. In 1986, Gulf Air posted a loss.

In 1988, Boeing 767s joined the fleet, and the airline commenced services to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Damascus, Dar es Salaam, Fujairah and Nairobi, and resumed services to Shiraz and Baghdad.

Whilst the VC10s were painted in the original Gulf Air livery (green/maroon brown/red stripes all along the fuselage and then sweeping up the tail), the arrival of the Lockheed L1011 TriStar in 1976 brought a new 'Golden Falcon' colour scheme featuring a predominantly white fuselage, with tri-coloured flashes on the nose, and a large golden falcon on the tail fin. This livery was used on the following types: Lockheed L1011-200 TriStar (1976), Boeing 737-200 (1977), Boeing 767-300ER (1988), Airbus A320-200 (1992), Airbus A340-300 (1994) and Airbus A330-200 (1999), but was also applied to at least some of the VC10s in their last few months of service.

Gulf Air celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1990. The light-blue and peach Balenciaga-designed uniform was introduced. Services to Singapore, Sydney and Thiruvananthapuram were launched, making Gulf Air the first Arab airline to fly to Australia. Gulf Air added services to Johannesburg and Melbourne in 1992, becoming the first Arab airline to fly directly to these cities. In 1993, it opened a flight-simulator centre in Qatar and introduced service to Casablanca, Entebbe, Jakarta, Kilimanjaro, Madras, Rome, San'a', Zanzibar and Zürich.

1993–2005: new livery and destinations
In May 1994, Gulf Air received its first Airbus A340-300. Two months later, the carrier began flights to New York City using an A340. The Gulf Air website was opened in January 1997, and New York services were discontinued the following month. A no-smoking policy was established in 1998 on flights to Singapore and Australia, which was later introduced on all flights. In 1999, Gulf Air launched three new routes in northern Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. It also took delivery of two Airbus A330-200 aircraft, and introduced a new uniform designed by Balmain.

In 2000, the airline celebrated its 50th anniversary. It took delivery of the remaining Airbus A330-200 aircraft in June, and launched services to Milan. Later in August 2000, Gulf Air Flight 072, operating on a flight from Cairo to Bahrain was involved in a fatal crash which resulted in 143 deaths.

In May 2002, James Hogan became president and CEO of Gulf Air and instigated a restructuring and turnaround programme in response to a drastic fall in profits and increasing debt. By 1 August 2002, Qatar announced its intentions to withdraw from Gulf Air to focus on its own national airline, Qatar Airways. The state remained a member state for a six-month period after announcing the intention to withdraw.

In 2003, Gulf Air introduced a new Landor Associates-designed gold and blue livery and, in June, established Gulf Traveller, a subsidiary, all-economy, full-service airline. It also announced a sponsorship deal for the Bahrain Grand Prix through 2010, creating the Gulfair Bahrain Grand Prix, of which the first was staged in 2004. The airline also introduced daily flights to Athens and Sydney via Singapore on 23 November 2003.

In 2004, Gulf Air introduced direct flights between Dubai and London, Muscat and London, and a daily service between Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. The airline carried a record 7.5 million passengers during that year. Gulf Air's sponsorship of the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix continued, with a record race crowd and a global TV audience. The airline announced a return to profit, with the best financial performance since 1997. Despite a BD30 million (US$80 million) cost to the business through fuel price rises during the year, Gulf Air recorded a profit of BD1.5 million (US$4.0 million) in the calendar year to December 2004, on revenues up 23.8% to BD476.3 million (US$1.26 billion) (2003: BD 384.6 million / USD1,020.2 million). The results meant the airline out-performed the targets set under Project Falcon, the three-year restructuring plan approved by the Board in December 2002.

The owner states of Gulf Air at that time—the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the Sultanate of Oman—confirmed their support for further expansion of the airline through a new three-year strategic plan which would include re-equipment of the aircraft fleet and recapitalization of the business through private-sector financing. Gulf Air was also placed on the IOSA registry following its successful completion of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).

2006–2009: full ownership by Bahrain
The new summer schedule commencing 28 April 2006 saw the complete withdrawal from Abu Dhabi as a hub, following the decision on 13 September 2005 by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to withdraw from Gulf Air and establish UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways. Gulf Air changed its operations to a dual-hub basis between Bahrain and Muscat airports. The airline ran a series of advertisements in local newspapers, thanking Abu Dhabi for its contribution to Gulf Air. As the national carrier for the United Arab Emirates for over 35 years, it has a large customer base located in Abu Dhabi. Gulf Air endeavoured to show continuing support for flights to Abu Dhabi from Bahrain and Muscat, connecting to the rest of the Gulf Air network, via advertisements placed in local newspapers.

James Hogan resigned as president and chief executive officer as of 1 October 2006 (subsequently becoming CEO at rival airline Etihad). Ahmed Al Hammadi was named acting chief executive officer, until Swiss national André Dosé, the former chief executive officer of Crossair and Swiss International Air Lines, became CEO on 1 April 2007. A few days later, Dosé announced a BD310 million (US$825 million) restructuring plan. This included originating or terminating all flights in Bahrain; ceasing routes to Johannesburg, Dublin, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney; eliminating all Boeing 767s and Airbus A340-300s from the fleet; introducing the Airbus A321 in July 2007 and the Airbus A330-300 in 2009; and potentially terminating employment based on performance, and without regard for nationality. This led to some employees applying for jobs in other airlines and, in less than a month, Gulf Air lost 500 persons from its workforce, prompting the airline to rule out mass layoffs as part of its recovery plan, except for performance reasons.

On 5 May 2007, the government of Bahrain has taken full ownership of the airline following an extraordinary general meeting, as its joint-owner Oman withdrew from the airline to focus on Oman Air. Gulf Air had also announced cutbacks to 25% of its workforce or roughly 1,500 jobs as part of a 2-year restructuring program to stop losses of $1 million a day. André Dosé resigned on 23 July 2007 and was replaced by Bjorn Naf, prompting the Bahraini government to call for further transparency in the airline's running, and delegating parliament's financial and economic affairs committee to investigate Gulf Air's situation. On 6 November 2007, Gulf Air started its third daily non-stop flight to London Heathrow Airport from Bahrain.

The airline inaugurated services to Shanghai Pudong International Airport on 16 June 2008 (the route was terminated on 25 December 2009). It also placed orders with Boeing (for 16 787s) and Airbus (for 15 A320s and 20 A330s) to upgrade its fleet. The airline's last commercial Boeing 767 flight was on 29 May 2008. On 3 July 2008, Gulf Air was announced as the official sponsor of London association football club, Queens Park Rangers. The same year, Gulf Air signed a lease agreement for five aircraft with International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) as part of its growth and expansion strategy. The lease was for six years for two Airbus A319s and three Airbus A330-200s, due for delivery in March, April and May 2009.

In March 2009, Gulf Air signed a 42-month lease agreement with Jet Airways for four Boeing 777-300ERs, but the aircraft were returned to Jet Airways starting in September 2009. In May, Gulf Air inaugurated summer seasonal flights to Alexandria, Aleppo and Salalah. On 1 September 2009, Gulf Air resumed flights to Baghdad. Services to Najaf and Erbil began shortly afterward.

Starting June 2009, Gulf Air's Golden Falcon logo was seen on the streets of London, emblazoned on the side of the city's taxi cabs, as part a two-year marketing deal. Fifty Hackney Carriages were to be rolled out in full Gulf Air livery to promote the airline's flights from London Heathrow to Bahrain and beyond. Later in June, the carrier announced the departure of CEO Bjorn Naf and the appointment of Samer Majali (who worked previously for Royal Jordanian) as CEO effective 1 August 2009.

2010s: restructuring
On 1 March 2010, Gulf Air launched its new "Falcon Gold" cabin, a single premium cabin merging business and first class together, aimed at offering higher standards of comfort for the standard premium price. As of August 2011, the new Flat Beds were installed on all aircraft except short-haul aircraft.

In 2011, Gulf Air temporarily suspended flights to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon during the height of the Bahraini uprising. The airline originally was to resume service to Iran from November 2012, but cancelled the plan as it was unable to receive approval from the Iranian authorities. Flights to Iran resumed in March 2014.

In November 2012, Gulf Air phased out its last Airbus A340-300. At the end of November 2012, it was announced that Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali's resignation had been accepted by the board of directors. Majali left by the end of 2012, after serving the company for three years. In March 2013, the airline announced that it cut 15% of its total staff alongside four unprofitable routes as part of its restructuring program. Maher Salman Al Musallam was the acting CEO of Gulf Air until May 2016, when he was officially appointed to the role. Musallam later resigned in June 2017 with his tenure being praised with reducing the airline's debts by 88%. On 12 November 2017, Gulf Air appointed former Croatia Airlines CEO Krešimir Kučko as the airline's new CEO.

At the Bahrain International Airshow in January 2016, Gulf Air ordered 17 A321neo and 12 A320neo aircraft for delivery from June 2018, and cancelled a commitment to acquire six A330-300 aircraft. In addition, the airline also announced a restructured order for 16 Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The new order of 16 Boeing 787-9 aircraft replaced an existing order for 16 of the smaller Boeing 787-8 aircraft. In June 2017, Gulf Air suspended its flights to Qatar during the Qatar diplomatic crisis. In February 2018, Gulf Air revealed its new livery. It consisted of an all-white fuselage with a smaller golden falcon on the tail and with dark blue 'Gulf Air' titles. In February 2019, the airline briefly suspended flights to Pakistan after the country temporarily closed its airspace due to increased tensions with India. In January 2020, Gulf Air retired its last Airbus A330-200 in favor of the newer 787-9.

Ownership and structure
Gulf Air is state-owned. The airline's sole shareholder is the Gulf Air Group Holding Company, which holds the aviation assets of Bahrain Mumtalakat, the sovereign wealth fund of the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The Gulf Air Group Holding board on December 5, 2022, announced the appointment of Jeffrey Goh as its group chief executive officer. Goh, who was previously CEO at Star Alliance, was due to take up his new role on January 1, 2023. The Gulf Air Group Holding comprises national carrier Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Company, BAC Jet Fuel Company, and Gulf Aviation Academy. The group is also a substantial shareholder in Bahrain Airport Services Company and Bahrain Duty Free Company.

Business trends
Gulf Air continues to be loss-making. In 2011, due largely to political unrest in the state of Bahrain, Gulf Air lost BHD95 million, and the loss grew to BHD196 million in 2012. A decision was taken in 2013 to implement a turnaround plan that involved reducing the airline's fleet, number of staff and number of destinations, and the losses reduced - and in 2015, the loss reported was BHD24.1 million, an 88% reduction from 2012. Efforts to become profitable have continued; in January 2019, the carrier announced a "boutique business model" as part of its business plans for 2019, as it aims to turn around its fortunes.

Few business figures are released on a regular basis, but those available are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):

Sponsorship
Gulf Air sponsors events, of which the most prestigious is the Bahrain Grand Prix. This is usually the first, second, third, or fourth race of the Formula One season, and is held in March or April. Gulf Air was also the first ever shirt sponsor of Chelsea F.C. in 1983 and 1984. More recently, it was shirt sponsor of Queens Park Rangers F.C. from 2008 to 2011. It also sponsors the Bahrain International Airshow.

Destinations
As of March 2023, Gulf Air flies to 61 destinations with 9 being seasonal in 30 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe from its hub at Bahrain International Airport. Gulf Air announced flights to USA & China, projected for 2024. Gulf Air's own Falcon Gold lounge can be found at the airports of Bahrain, Dubai and London–Heathrow.

Codeshare agreements
Gulf Air has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

 * Aegean Airlines
 * American Airlines
 * Biman Bangladesh Airlines
 * Cathay Pacific
 * EgyptAir
 * El Al
 * Emirates
 * Ethiopian Airlines
 * Etihad Airways
 * KLM
 * Kuwait Airways
 * Middle East Airlines
 * Oman Air
 * Philippine Airlines
 * Qatar Airways
 * Royal Jordanian
 * Royal Air Maroc
 * Saudia
 * Singapore Airlines
 * SpiceJet
 * SriLankan Airlines
 * Thai Airways International
 * Turkish Airlines

Current fleet
As of August 2023, the Gulf Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Historical fleet
Over the years, Gulf Air has operated the following aircraft types:

Accidents and incidents

 * On 22 November 1976, a Gulf Air Short SC.7 Skyvan cargo plane travelling from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi-Al Bateen Airport experienced an engine failure. The crew abandoned the aircraft off Das Island. The two occupants were rescued while the airplane sank.
 * On 23 September 1983: Gulf Air Flight 771 was a flight from Karachi, Pakistan to Qatar via Abu Dhabi. While the Boeing 737-200 was on approach to Abu Dhabi International Airport, a bomb exploded in the baggage compartment. The aircraft crashed in the desert near Mina Jebel Ali between Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE. All seven crew members and 105 passengers died. Most of the fatalities were Pakistani nationals, many returning to jobs in the Gulf after spending the Eid ul-Adha holiday with their families in Pakistan. The bomb was apparently planted by the Abu Nidal Organization, to pressure the Gulf States to pay protection money to Abu Nidal so as to avoid attacks on their soil.
 * On 10 March 1997, a Gulf Air A320 (A4O-EM) aborted takeoff at Abu Dhabi International Airport and overran the runway, causing the nosegear to collapse. Everyone on board survived.
 * On 23 August 2000: Gulf Air Flight 072 crashed into the waters of the Persian Gulf on approach to Bahrain International Airport from Cairo. The Airbus A320, with 143 passengers and crew on board, approached the landing at higher speeds than normal, and carried out an unusual low altitude orbit in an attempt to correct the approach. The orbit was unsuccessful and a go-around was attempted. While carrying out a turning climb the aircraft entered a descent at 15 degrees nose down. The aircrew did not respond to repeated GPWS warnings and approximately one minute after starting the go-around the aircraft disappeared from radar screens. All 143 passengers and crew, including 36 children, were killed in the accident. The accident investigation concluded that the primary cause of the crash was pilot error (including spatial disorientation), with a secondary factor being systemic organizational and oversight issues. Flight 072 was the highest death toll of any accident involving an Airbus A320 at that time. It was subsequently surpassed by TAM Airlines Flight 3054, which crashed on 17 July 2007 with 199 fatalities.
 * On 29 August 2011, Gulf Air Flight 270, using an Airbus A320-214, from Bahrain to Cochin carrying 143 people, skidded off the runway on landing due to pilot error of loss of situational awareness during reduced visibility conditions. The weather was poor with heavy rain and strong winds. The aircraft was badly damaged with nose gear collapsed and seven passengers were injured. Some people were reported to have jumped from an emergency exit when the evacuation slide failed to deploy.

title: Gulf Air