Movement patterns of the East Coast rock lobster Panulirus homarus rubellus on the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

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.