Abstract
Seasonal variation in catchability of legal-sized male and female southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii in a scientific reserve in south-east Tasmania, Australia, over a 15-month period was described by modelling the effects of water temperature, moulting and mating. Seasonal changes in water temperature described 62% of the variation of catchability for males, but were a poor predictor of catchability for females outside winter. Both moulting and mating was highly synchronised, although males and females moulted at different times of the year. This had a significant sex-specific effect on catchability, because the models developed here indicate that feeding and therefore catchability is decreased during moulting and mating and followed by an increased food consumption to compensate for the lack of feeding during these periods. Gaussian probability density functions were used to represent the timing and intensity of moulting, mating and subsequent compensation periods, and were combined with the description of seasonal temperature changes. Four Gaussian functions in agreement with independent biological data considerably improved the model fits for the catchability of males (R 2=0.84). Adding a single Gaussian function to the temperature model, representing a combined moulting and mating period, provided a good fit to the variation in catchability of females (R 2=0.90). However, the biological relevance of this model remained unclear during a second period of moulting and mating where empirical observations were missing.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Addison JT (1995) Influence of behavioural interactions on lobster distribution and abundance as inferred from pot-caught samples. ICES Mar Sci Symp 199:294–300
Arreguín-Sánchez F (1996) Catchability: a key parameter for fish stock assessment. Rev Fish Biol Fish 6:221–242
Branford JR (1979) Locomotor activity and food consumption by the lobster Homarus gammarus. Mar Behav Physiol 6:13–24
Burnham KP, Anderson DR (1998) Model selection and inference. A practical information-theoretic approach. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Caddy JF (1977) Some considerations underlying definitions of catchability and fishing effort in shellfish fisheries, and their relevance for stock assessment purposes. Fish Mar Serv Rep No 1489
Campbell A, Noakes DJ, Elner RW (1991) Temperature and lobster, Homarus americanus, yield relationships. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 48:2073–2082
Dow RL (1977) Relationship of sea surface temperature to American and European lobster landings. J Cons Int Explor Mer 37:186–191
Ennis GP (1973) Food, feeding and condition of lobsters, Homarus americanus, throughout the seasonal cycle in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland. J Fish Res Bd Can 30:1905–1909
Fogarty MJ (1988) Time series models of the Maine lobster fishery: the effect of temperature. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:1145–1153
Frusher SD, Hoenig JM (2001) Impact of size related dominance hierarchies on selectivity of traps for southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:2482–2489
Goñi R, Reñones O, Quetglas A (2001) Dynamics of a protected Western Mediterranean population of the European spiny lobster Palinurus elephas (Fabricius, 1787) assessed by trap surveys. Mar Freshw Res 52:1577–1588
Joll LM, Phillips BF (1984) Natural diet and growth of juvenile western rock lobsters Panulirus cygnus George. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 75:145–169
Karnofsky EB, Price H J (1989) Behavioural response of the lobster Homarus americanus to traps. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:1625–1632
Kelly S, MacDiarmid AB, Babcock RC (1999) Characteristics of spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii, aggregations in exposed reef and sandy areas. Mar Freshw Res 50:409–416
Lipcius RN, Herrnkind WF (1982) Moult cycle alterations in behavior, feeding and diel rhythms of a decapod crustacean, the spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Mar Biol 68:241–252
MacDiarmid AB (1988) Experimental confirmation of external fertilisation in the southern temperate rock lobster Jasus edwardsii (Hutton) (Decapoda: Palinuridae). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 120:277–285
MacDiarmid AB (1989) Moulting and reproduction of the spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii (Decapoda: Palinuridae) in northern New Zealand. Mar Biol 103:303–310
MacDiarmid AB (1994) Cohabitation in the spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1975). Crustaceana 66:341–355
Mayfield S, Atkinson LJ, Branch GM, Cockroft AC (2000) Diet of West Coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii: influence of lobster size, sex, capture depth, latitude and moult stage. S Afr J Mar Sci 22:57–69
McKoy JL (1979) Mating behaviour and egg laying in captive rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii (Crustacea: Decapods: Palinuridae). N Z J Mar Freshw Res 13:407–413
McLeese DW, Wilder DG (1958) The activity and catchability of the lobster (Homarus americanus) in relation to temperature. J Fish Res Bd Can 15:1345–1354
Millar RB, Fryer RJ (1999) Estimating the size-selection curves of towed gears, traps, nets and hooks. Rev Fish Biol Fish 9:89–116
Miller RJ (1990) Effectiveness of crab and lobster traps. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 47:1228–1251
Miller RJ (1995) Catchability coefficients for American lobster (Homarus americanus). ICES Mar Sci Symp 199:349–356
Morgan GR (1974) Aspects of the population dynamics of the western rock lobster, Panulirus cygnus George. II. Seasonal changes in the catchability coefficient. Aust J Mar Freshw Res 25:249–259
Newman GG, Pollock DE (1974) Biological cycles, maturity and availability of rock lobster Jasus lalandii on two South African fishing grounds. Invest Rep Sea Fish Brch S Afr No 107
Paloheimo JE (1963) Estimation of catchabilities and population sizes of lobsters. J Fish Res Bd Can 20:59–88
Pezzack DS, Duggan DR (1995) Offshore lobster (Homarus americanus) trap-caught size frequencies and population size structure. ICES Mar Sci Symp 199:129–138
Pollock DE, DeB Beyers CJ (1979) Trap selectivity and seasonal catchability of rock lobster Jasus lalandii at Robben Island sanctuary, near Cape Town. Fish Bull S Afr 12:75–79
Punt AE, Kennedy RB (1997) Population modelling of Tasmanian rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, resources. Mar Freshw Res 48:967–980
Smith IP, Collins KJ, Jensen AC (1999) Seasonal changes in the level and diel pattern of activity in the European lobster Homarus gammarus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 186:255–264
Tremblay MJ (2000) Catchability of the lobster (Homarus americanus): late spring versus autumn. In: Von Vaupel Klein JC, Schram FR (eds) The biodiversity crisis and crustacea: Proceedings of the Fourth International Crustacean Congress, vol 2. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 701–713
Tremblay MJ, Eagles MD (1997) Molt timing and growth of the lobster, Homarus americanus, off northeastern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. J Shellfish Res 16:383–394
Turner K., Gardner C, Swain R (2002) Onset of maturity in male southern rock lobsters Jasus edwardsii in Tasmania, Australia. Invert Reprod Dev 42:129–135
Williams MJ, Hill BJ (1982) Factors influencing pot catches and population estimates of the Portunid crab Scylla serrata. Mar Biol 71:187–192
Ziegler PE, Frusher SD, Johnson CR, Gardner C (2002a) Catchability of the southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii: I. Effects of sex, season and catch history. Mar Freshw Res 53:1143–1148
Ziegler PE, Johnson CR, Frusher SD, Gardner C (2002b) Catchability of the southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii: II. Effects of size. Mar Freshw Res 53:1149–1159
Zoutendyk P (1988) Consumption rates of captive rock lobster Jasus lalandii. S Afr J Mar Sci 6:267–271
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Caleb Gardner, Linda Eaton, and Dirk Welsford for helpful suggestions during the study. This study forms part of P.Z.’s PhD thesis and was supported in part by the quota management fund from the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (DIPWE), and the Tasmanian rock lobster industry. All experiments comply with the current laws of Australia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by G.F. Humphrey, Sydney
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ziegler, P.E., Haddon, M., Frusher, S.D. et al. Modelling seasonal catchability of the southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii by water temperature, moulting, and mating. Marine Biology 145, 179–190 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1298-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1298-6