Large-scale assessment of recruitment of postlarval spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus, to Antigua, West Indies
Bannerot SP, Ryther JH, Clark M. 1988. Large-scale assessment of recruitment of postlarval spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus, to Antigua, West Indies. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
Twenty-eight floating collecting devices, constructed of PVC pipe and air conditioner filter material, were deployed, maintained, and sampled weekly from 28 August 1987 to 29 July 1988 in Antigua, West Indies for the purpose of assessing periodicity, magnitude, and distribution of recruitment of postlarval spiny lobsters to nearshore waters. Thirteen of these collectors were distributed randomly around the coastline within 50 m of shore to obtain unbiased estimates of relative abundance. Fifteen were deployed nonrandomly 1 m to 4.8 km from shore in order to increase area and number of habitat types sampled. Total sample size was 11,967. Combined with additional field experiments, 22,817 postlarval lobsters were collected. Recruitment was strongly correlated with moon phase. Largest samples occured during the new moon and first quarter throughout the year. Recruitment during May was significantly higher than any other month. Practical aspects of large-scale recruitment studies in the Caribbean, including cost, attainable objectives, and applications of results, are discussed. Abstract provided by author.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Bannerot, Scott; Ryther, John; Clark, Maurice
- Units
- BUIS
- Keywords
- Abundance, Cygnus, Interruptus, Larvae, Marginatus, Panulirus argus, Population, Spiny lobsters, West Indies