Defense mechanisms and antipredator behavior in two sympatric species of spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus and P. guttatus

Briones‐Fourzán, Patricia; Pérez-Ortiz, Marisol; Lozano‐Álvarez, Enrique

doi:10.1007/s00227-005-0191-2

Cited by 41 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…After an initial tailflip escape, lobsters were more responsive to octopuses and often tailflipped away before the approaching predator could make a reach attempt. in these later attacks, lobsters may have been responding to subtle hydrodynamic cues, visual cues like shadows from the swimming octopus, or other mechanical cues (wilkins et al 1996;Briones-Fourzan et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sound production in Caribbean spiny lobsterPanulirus argusand its role in escape during predatory attack byOctopus briareus

Bouwma

Herrnkind

2009

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

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The production of sound (commonly called stridulation) in spiny lobsters when disturbed by humans is well documented but its function during encounters with natural predators remains largely undocumented. Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus stridulate during tailflip escape attempts in response to grasping of the carapace or antennae by human divers. We hypothesised that stridulating may be effective against predators like octopus which grasp the carapace and antennae during attacks in a way similar to human divers. In this study, we examined defensive sound production during nighttime encounters with Caribbean reef octopus Octopus briareus to determine how P. argus use stridulation and whether it improves survival. In staged nighttime encounters with octopus, lobsters stridulated both during grasping attacks by octopus and after being captured and restrained. Stridulating lobsters escaped from attacking octopuses more frequently and remained uncaptured longer during encounters than experimentally muted individuals. We discuss ecological and evolutionary implications for these data in lobster species that produce sounds when grasped.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sound production in Caribbean spiny lobsterPanulirus argusand its role in escape during predatory attack byOctopus briareus

Bouwma

Herrnkind

2009

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

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“…For example, Caribbean spiny lobsters avoid shelters containing damaged conspecifics, both in the laboratory and in the field (Parsons and Eggleston, 2005;Parsons and Eggleston, 2006;Bouwma, 2006;Briones-Fourzán et al, 2006;Briones-Fourzán and Lozano-Álvarez, 2008). Fishermen in Mexico avoid throwing spiny lobster bodies back in the water after removing their tails because this practice leads to a poor catch (Briones-Fourzán et al, 2006). California spiny lobsters avoid dens that contain leaked fluids of fresh conspecific carcasses (Zimmer-Faust et al, 1985).…”

Section: Discussion Alarm Responses Of Spiny Lobsters To Hemolymphmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decapod crustaceans also respond with alarm behavior to fluids leaked from injured conspecifics (Zimmer-Faust et al, 1985;Rittschof et al, 1992;Hazlett, 1994;Fleming et al, 2007). Caribbean spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus, have been reported to avoid fluids of injured conspecifics (Parsons and Eggleston, 2005;Parsons and Eggleston, 2006;Bouwma, 2006;Briones-Fourzán et al, 2006;Briones-Fourzán and Lozano-Álvarez, 2008). However, the source of chemical alarm cues from injured conspecifics and the immediate behavioral responses to such cues are poorly characterized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiny lobsters detect conspecific blood-borne alarm cues exclusively through olfactory sensilla

Shabani

Kamio

Derby

2008

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYWhen attacked by predators, diverse animals actively or passively release molecules that evoke alarm and related anti-predatory behavior by nearby conspecifics. The actively released molecules are alarm pheromones, whereas the passively released molecules are alarm cues. For example, many insects have alarm-signaling systems that involve active release of alarm pheromones from specialized glands and detection of these signals using specific sensors. Many crustaceans passively release alarm cues, but the nature of the cues, sensors and responses is poorly characterized. Here we show in laboratory and field experiments that injured Caribbean spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus, passively release alarm cues via blood (hemolymph) that induce alarm responses in the form of avoidance and suppression of feeding. These cues are detected exclusively through specific olfactory chemosensors, the aesthetasc sensilla. The alarm cues for Caribbean spiny lobsters are not unique to the species but do show some phylogenetic specificity: P. argus responds primarily with alarm behavior to conspecific blood, but with mixed alarm and appetitive behaviors to blood from the congener Panulirus interruptus, or with appetitive behaviors to blood from the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. This study lays the foundation for future neuroethological studies of alarm cue systems in this and other decapod crustaceans. Supplementary material available online at

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“…As the scent production is mass-dependent, crevices harboring more lobsters potentially exert a stronger guide effect (Ratchford & Eggleston 1998). Spiny lobsters use their long, spiny antennae to fend off predators, but this defense mechanism is less effective for smaller than for larger lobsters because antennal strength increases with body size (Briones-Fourzán et al 2006), and for solitary than for aggregated lobsters because the latter jointly use their antennae as defensive weapons (the 'group defense benefit'). However, in crevices that harbor a broad size spectrum of lobsters, the smaller lobsters benefit from the greater individual and collective defensive abilities of the larger lobsters (Eggleston & Lipcius 1992, Mintz et al 1994.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogenetic habitat shifts affect performance of artificial shelters for Caribbean spiny lobsters

Lozano‐Álvarez¹,

Meiners²,

Briones‐Fourzán³

2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Early benthic juveniles (EBJ) of Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus dwell solitarily in vegetated habitats but eventually shift to dwelling gregariously in crevice shelters ('crevices'). This habitat shift may depend on the interplay between the refuge value of the local vegetation (which increases with complexity) and that of available crevices (which increases with the potential they offer for gregariousness). We examined how these factors influenced density enhancement of lobsters with large artificial shelters ('casitas', 1.1 m 2 in refuge area) in a coastal reef lagoon. We deployed 10 casitas at each of five 1 ha sites, 3 located in the mid-lagoon zone (ML) and 2 in the back-reef lagoon zone (BRL). These zones differed in vegetation complexity and abundance of algal-dwelling EBJ (greater in the ML), and abundance of crevices (greater in the BRL). Over 4 yr (22 surveys), abundance of large juveniles (> 20 mm carapace length, CL) was initially higher in casitas in the BRL but tended to converge over time between lagoon zones, whereas EBJ (≤20 mm CL) were consistently more abundant in casitas in the BRL. Even when controlling for a potentially stronger conspecific chemical attraction exerted by greater aggregations of large juveniles in BRL casitas, significantly more EBJ shifted to casitas in the BRL than in the ML. Thus, lobster density enhancement with casitas was more immediate in the BRL, where the local vegetation ceased to protect lobsters sooner, but increased over time in the more lushly vegetated ML as gradually more lobsters shifted to, and persisted in, casitas.

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Defense mechanisms and antipredator behavior in two sympatric species of spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus and P. guttatus

Cited by 41 publications

References 54 publications

Sound production in Caribbean spiny lobsterPanulirus argusand its role in escape during predatory attack byOctopus briareus

Sound production in Caribbean spiny lobsterPanulirus argusand its role in escape during predatory attack byOctopus briareus

Spiny lobsters detect conspecific blood-borne alarm cues exclusively through olfactory sensilla

Ontogenetic habitat shifts affect performance of artificial shelters for Caribbean spiny lobsters

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