Journal
NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH
Volume 45, Issue 1, Pages 85-101Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/00288330.2010.538067
Keywords
rock lobster; tag-recapture; movement; ontogenetic; larval settlement; traps; South Africa
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Funding
- South African Association of Marine Biological Research
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A tagging study was undertaken on Blood Reef off Durban, South Africa, to investigate movement patterns of Panulirus homarus rubellus as well as inshore/offshore population differences. Lobsters were collected by SCUBA divers and baited traps. Traps caught larger lobsters than divers and trap catches were somewhat male-dominated (40% female:60% male). Lobsters were predominately resident with only 3% of recaptured lobsters moving over 500 m. Long shore movements were probably related to foraging behaviour and sanding and scouring of reefs. Larger lobsters were caught on offshore reefs (10 m depth) than on inshore reefs (10 m depth). The absence of large lobsters (100 mm carapace length, CL) on inshore reefs may be related to fishing mortality. Low juvenile numbers (50 mm CL) on offshore reefs suggest that post-larval lobsters settle on inshore reefs. An exponential decay model indicated that a small percentage of the population (males: 1.3%; females: 2.5%) move offshore with females mainly moving at 3 years of age and males between 1 and 3 years of age.
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