Determination of preferred habitats of early benthic juvenile California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus, on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico

Abstract

The habitat requirements of early benthic stage juveniles of California spiny lobster Panulirus interruptus are known only from studies conducted near its northernmost geographic range, where environmental conditions differ markedly from those along the Pacific coast of the southern Baja California Peninsula (Mexico). We determined the natural habitat of this stage of P. interruptus in the central portion of their range from sampling the available dominant vegetated habitats included various seagrasses and macroalgae. Additionally, experiments on habitat selection by early benthic juvenile P. interruptus were performed under laboratory conditions to test natural substrate selection and whether selection of substrata is affected by odour signals. Despite the abundance of different macrophytes as habitat, 93% of the juvenile lobsters were found at the base of the blades of Phyllospadix spp. in the intertidal zone at 0 to 3 m. The highest juvenile densities were found in September at both sites. In laboratory experiments, juvenile lobsters preferred, in order of preference, Gelidium robustum, Phyllospadix, Plocamium pacificum, and holdfasts of the kelp Macrocystis pyrifera. A second laboratory experiment showed that these preferences were affected by odour signals. Results indicate that the ecology of juvenile P. interruptus off the coast of the Mexican Baja is similar to that observed off the coast of southern California.

Juvenile and Adult Ecology

“…Lobsters are simultaneously predators and prey throughout their benthic life. Gut-content analysis on many species shows the ubiquitous presence of molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, and other invertebrates, but also coralline and fl eshy algae (Joll & Phillips, 1984;Herrnkind et al, 1987;Edgar 1990;Jernakoff et al, 1993;Díaz-Arredondo & Guzmán-del-Próo, 1995;Lozano-Álvarez, 1996;Cox et al, 1997;Mayfi eld et al, 2000;Castaneda et al, 2005). Prey size generally increases with lobster growth, refl ecting changes in mandible size and other constraints to handling, accessibility, and durophagy.…”

A Review on Puerulus (Panulirus spp.) Resource Utilization in Indonesia Based on the Sense of Hearing: Auditory Receptor Organs

“…The lobster life cycle is divided into several phases, namely eggs, nauplisoma, phyllosoma, puerulus (non-pigmented lobster seeds), and juvenile, which consists of yuwana and fingerling and adult stages (De Lara et al, 2005;Suastika et al, 2008;Thao, 2012). In the early life of lobsters, eggs hatch into nauplisoma, which lasts about 4-6 hours (Gilchrist, 1913), then turn into phyllosoma which are the wandering phase.…”

“…At this stage, lobsters already have organs that can detect underwater sound waves in the form of statocysts and chordotonal organs. It is thought that these organs play an important role in finding the location of coastal waters (Sekiguchi and Terazawa, 1997;Popper et al, 2001;Jeff et al, 2005), then enter the settlement phase in shallow waters on the coast (Phillips and Macmillan, 1987;Jeff et al, 2005;De Lara et al, 2005).…”

Spatial Modeling of Potential Lobster Harvest Grounds in Palabuhanratu Bay, West Java, Indonesia

“…Research on spatial modeling of lobsters has mostly been carried out on lobster habitats and distributions. The identification of lobsters' preferred habitats [21] can be linked to the density, abundance, and biomass of each habitat type to allow the prediction of the spatial distribution of lobsters in a particular area [22]. The distribution of lobsters can be used to determine the relationship between the population and marine conservation areas that can support lobsters [23].…”