Abstract
This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the global distribution of lobsters (nephropid, palinurid and scyllarid) in all oceans. Lobsters are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions, from the intertidal to great depths. Many species of the genus Panulirus prefer rocky or coral reefs and some are found in sandy/muddy substrates. The tropical zone has the largest number of species (174), followed by the subtropics with 71 species and the temperate region with 16 species. Among the 63 species of palinurids, 39 are distributed in the tropics and 19 species in the subtropical zone with many species overlapping in their distribution. Under the family Nephropidae, 32 species are found in the tropical belt, 15 in the subtropical zone and 10 species in the temperate zone. Three species under two genera, Thymops and Thymopides are distributed in the southern Atlantic and Indian Ocean region (50oS). The Indo-West Pacific is the region with maximum diversity with the nephropids represented by 29 species, palinurids by 36 species and the scyllarids by 57 species. Among the total number of scyllarids, 63 species are distributed in the tropical zone, 26 in the subtropical and 3 species in the temperate region.
Rock lobsters use a range of different habitats at different phases of their life cycle from the water column during the pelagic larval phase to seagrass and algal meadows in puerulus stage and small holes in the reef in postpuerulus and juvenile stages to subadults (3–4 years of age) migrating across the deepwater regions of sand and reefs to settle on offshore, deepwater habitats as mature breeding lobsters. Many spiny lobster species exhibit ontogenetic habitat shift from the postlarval settlement habitat of macroalgae, kelp or seagrass to benthic crevices sheltering concomitant with aggregation in crevices as larger juveniles, subadults and adults. Different species of lobsters may cohabit in the same region but may differ in their habitat selection. Lobsters cohabit with many species of sponges, sea urchins, echinoderms, fishes, decapods, seagrass and seaweeds in the coastal fishing grounds. Artisanal fishing using bottom-set gillnets in the coastal grounds removes these low trophic species regularly. The indiscriminate and constant removal of these low trophic species has the potential to cause serious ecological balance of the reef system.
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Radhakrishnan, E.V., Phillips, B.F., S, L.P., Padua, S. (2019). Ecology and Global Distribution Pattern of Lobsters. In: Radhakrishnan, E., Phillips, B., Achamveetil, G. (eds) Lobsters: Biology, Fisheries and Aquaculture. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9094-5_5
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