Factors Regulating Microhabitat Use by Young Juvenile Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus Argus: Food and Shelter

1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 650-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Marx ◽  
William Herrnkind
Keyword(s):  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Microhabitat Use ◽  
Spiny Lobsters

scholarly journals Casitas: a location-dependent ecological trap for juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. i177-i184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Gutzler ◽  
Mark J. Butler ◽  
Donald C. Behringer
Keyword(s):  
Florida Keys ◽  
Nutritional Condition ◽  
Ecological Trap ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Spiny Lobsters ◽  
Nursery Habitats ◽  
Animal Size ◽  
Fisheries Enhancement

Abstract Casitas are artificial shelters used by fishers to aggregate Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) for ease of capture. However, casitas may function as an ecological trap for juvenile lobsters if they are attracted to casitas and their growth or mortality is poorer compared with natural shelters. We hypothesized that juvenile lobsters may be at particular risk if attracted to casitas because they are less able than larger individuals to defend themselves, and do not forage far from shelter. We compared the nutritional condition, relative mortality, and activity of lobsters of various sizes in casitas and natural shelters in adult and juvenile lobster-dominated habitats in the Florida Keys (United States). We found that the ecological effects of casitas are complex and location-dependent. Lobsters collected from casitas and natural shelters did not differ in nutritional condition. However, juvenile lobsters in casitas experienced higher rates of mortality than did individuals in natural shelters; the mortality of large lobsters did not differ between casitas and natural shelters. Thus, casitas only function as ecological traps when deployed in nursery habitats where juvenile lobsters are lured by conspecifics to casitas where their risk of predation is higher. These results highlight the importance of accounting for animal size and location-dependent effects when considering the consequences of habitat modification for fisheries enhancement.

Den sharing by juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) in nursery habitat: cooperation or coincidence?

1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Childress ◽  
William F. Herrnkind
Keyword(s):  
Life History Traits ◽  
Dilution Effect ◽  
Nursery Habitat ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Predator Density ◽  
Conspecific Density ◽  
Spiny Lobsters ◽  
Effect Hypothesis ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Sharing Patterns

Spiny lobsters (Palinuridae) commonly share crevice shelters with conspecifics, a behaviour usually hypothesized to benefit mutually cooperative defenders through reduced predation risk. The group-defence hypothesis predicts a suite of distinct corollary life history traits and ecological correlates including more frequent co-denning than solitary denning, especially where predators or den competitors are numerous and when the lobsters are small, moulting or otherwise vulnerable. Two alternative co-denning hypotheses, the dilution effect (a type of selfish herding) and the guide effect (attraction to a denned conspecific), have different and distinctive sets of predictions. To test among these hypotheses, the den-sharing patterns of newly emerged postalgal juveniles of Panulirus argus and associated ecological conditions in the Florida Bay (USA) nursery habitat were examined. Only half of the juveniles shared dens, and rarely was den sharing in an area greater than that expected by chance. Den-sharing frequency was most highly correlated with conspecific density and scarcity of local dens. The lack of correlation between den sharing and lobster size, moult condition, shelter type and predator density failed to support either the group-defence or the dilution-effect hypothesis. Instead, the data better support the guide-effect hypothesis.

scholarly journals Characterization of microsporidian Ameson herrnkindi sp. nov. infecting Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus

2019 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
HJ Small ◽  
GD Stentiford ◽  
DC Behringer ◽  
MA Freeman ◽  
NAM Atherley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Spiny Lobsters

scholarly journals Cascading disturbances in Florida Bay, USA:cyanobacteria blooms, sponge mortality, and implications for juvenile spiny lobsters Panulirus argus

1995 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Butler ◽  
JH Hunt ◽  
WF Herrnkind ◽  
MJ Childress ◽  
R Bertelsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Florida Bay ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Spiny Lobsters

Alterations in the gut-associated microbiota of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) infected with PaV1

2020 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 107457
Author(s):  
Jesús Alejandro Zamora-Briseño ◽  
Daniel Cerqueda-García ◽  
Ioreni Margarita Hernández-Velázquez ◽  
Rafael Rivera-Bustamante ◽  
Juan Pablo Huchín-Mian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Spiny Lobsters

Fecundity dynamics of female spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) in a south Florida fishery and Dry Tortugas National Park lobster sanctuary

2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 1559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney D. Bertelsen ◽  
Thomas R. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Reproductive Season ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Dry Tortugas ◽  
Spiny Lobsters

Using diver surveys, we compared the size structure, fecundity, and reproductive season of spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) in the Dry Tortugas National Park lobster sanctuary with those of spiny lobsters in the south Florida fishery. The number of lobsters of both sexes larger than the legal size limit declined sharply in the fishery but not in the sanctuary. Clutch sizes were larger in the Dry Tortugas sanctuary, averaging 0.8 million, than in the fishery, averaging 0.3 million. The reproductive season was shorter and more intense in the sanctuary than in the fishery. In addition, lobsters in the sanctuary begin producing eggs at a larger size and produce more eggs per gram of body mass than lobsters in the fishery. Peak egg production occurs earlier in larger lobsters than in small ones. Establishing a fundamental reason for the differences between lobster reproduction in the sanctuary and that in the fishery is not possible until the chronological age of lobsters can be determined, but one hypothesis consistent with these differences is that, if lobsters reproduce at a certain chronological age, then sublethal fishery practices may account for slower growth for some lobsters resulting in some smaller but older reproductively active lobsters.

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