Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Enhancement of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters: an evaluation of changes in multiple response variables with the addition of large artificial shelters

  • Population Ecology
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Shortage of natural crevice shelters may produce population bottlenecks in juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus), a socially gregarious species. We conducted a field experiment to test enhancement of a local population of juvenile P. argus with the addition of artificial shelters (“casitas”) that mimic large crevices (1.1 m2 in surface area and 3.8 cm in height). Changes in density and biomass of juvenile lobsters 15–50 mm carapace length (CL) were assessed with a multiple before-after control-impact (MBACI) analysis. Separate analyses were also conducted on small (15–35 mm CL) and large (35.1–50 mm CL) juveniles to assess size-related effects. First, we carried out 13 lobster surveys on nine fixed 1-ha sites over a shallow reef lagoon (“before” period). Then, we deployed ten casitas in each of five sites and left four sites as controls, and conducted 22 further surveys (“after” period). Deployment of casitas resulted in a sixfold increase in juvenile density (76% contributed by small and 24% by large juveniles) and a sevenfold increase in biomass (40 and 60%, respectively). Capture–recapture results revealed that enhancement was achieved not by promoting individual growth but by increasing survival, persistence, and foraging ranges of small and large juveniles. Casitas both mitigated shortage of natural shelter and increased sociality, allowing for cohabitation of smaller, more vulnerable juveniles with larger conspecifics that have greater defensive abilities. Casitas may help enhance local populations of juvenile P. argus in Caribbean seagrass habitats, typically poor in natural crevice shelters. The use of MBACI and the simultaneous assessment of multiple interrelated response variables may be a powerful analytical approach to test shelter limitation in other species and to examine the function of structural habitat in other systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acosta CA, Butler MJ (1997) Role of mangrove habitat as nursery for juvenile spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, in Belize. Mar Freshwater Res 48:721–727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez-Filip L (2002) Abundancia y alimentación de las morenas Gymnothorax moringa y Gymnothorax vicinus (Pisces: Muraenidae) en la laguna arrecifal de Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo. Tesis profesional, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

  • Arce AM, Aguilar-Dávila W, Sosa-Cordero E, Caddy JF (1997) Artificial shelters (casitas) as habitat for juvenile spiny lobsters Panulirus argus in the Mexican Caribbean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 158:217–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Beets J, Hixon MA (1994) Distribution, persistence, and growth of groupers (Pisces: Serranidae) on artificial and natural patch reefs in the Virgin Islands. Bull Mar Sci 55:470–483

    Google Scholar 

  • Behringer DC, Butler MJ (2006) Density-dependence population dynamics in juvenile Panulirus argus (Latreille): the impact of artificial density enhancement. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 334:84–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berrill M (1975) Gregarious behavior of juveniles of the spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Crustacea: Decapoda). Bull Mar Sci 25:515–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohnsack JA (1989) Are high densities of fishes at artificial reefs the result of habitat limitation or behavioral preference? Bull Mar Sci 44:631–645

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohnsack JA, Johnson DL, Ambrose RF (1991) Ecology of artificial reef habitats and fishes. In: Seaman W Jr, Sprage LM (eds) Artificial habitats for marine and freshwater fisheries. Academic Press, New York, pp 61–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohnsack JA, Eklund AM, Szmant AM (1997) Artificial reef research: is there more than the attraction-production issue? Fisheries 22(4):14–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Briones-Fourzán P (1994) Variability in postlarval recruitment of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) to the Mexican Caribbean coast. Crustaceana 66:326–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briones-Fourzán P, Lozano-Álvarez E, Eggleston DB (2000) The use of artificial shelters (Casitas) in research and harvesting of Caribbean spiny lobsters in Mexico. In: Phillips BF, Kittaka J (eds) Spiny lobsters: fisheries and culture, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 420–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Briones-Fourzán P, Lozano-Álvarez E (2001a) The importance of Lobophora variegata (Phaeophyta: Dictyotales) as a habitat for small juveniles of Panulirus argus (Decapoda: Palinuridae) in a tropical reef lagoon. Bull Mar Sci 68:207–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Briones-Fourzán P, Lozano-Álvarez E (2001b) Effects of artificial shelters (Casitas) on the abundance and biomass of juvenile spiny lobsters Panulirus argus in a habitat-limited tropical reef lagoon. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 221:221–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Briones-Fourzán P, Castañeda-Fernández de Lara V, Lozano-Álvarez E, Estrada-Olivo J (2003) Feeding ecology of the three juvenile phases of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus in a tropical reef lagoon. Mar Biol 142:855–865

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler MJ, Herrnkind WF (1997) A test of recruitment limitation and the potential for artificial enhancement of spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) populations in Florida. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:452–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carr MH, Hixon MA (1997) Artificial reefs: the importance of comparison with natural reefs. Fisheries 22(4):28–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro KM, Cobb JS, Wahle RA, Catena J (2001) Habitat addition and stock enhancement for American lobsters, Homarus americanus. Mar Freshwater Res 52:1253–1261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childress MJ (1997) Marine reserves and their effects on lobster populations: report from a workshop. Mar Freshwater Res 48:1111–1114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childress MJ, Herrnkind WF (1997) Den sharing by juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) in a nursery habitat: cooperation or coincidence? Mar Freshwater Res 48:751–758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childress MJ, Herrnkind WF (2001a) Influence of conspecifics on the ontogenetic habitat shift of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters. Mar Freshwater Res 52:1077–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childress MJ, Herrnkind WF (2001b) The guide-effect influence on the gregariousness of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters. Anim Behav 62:465–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb JS (1981) Behaviour of the western Australian spiny lobster, Panulirus cygnus George, in the field and laboratory. Aust J Mar Freshwater Res 32:399–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooch E, White W (2001) Using MARK—a gentle introduction, 2nd edn. http://www.phidot.org/software/mark/docs/book/

  • Cruz R, Phillips BF (2000) The artificial shelters (Pesqueros) used for the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fisheries in Cuba. In: Phillips BF, Kittaka J (eds) Spiny lobsters: fisheries and culture, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 400–419

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruz R, Brito R, Díaz E, Lalana R (1986) Ecología de la langosta (Panulirus argus) al SE de la Isla de la Juventud. I. Colonización de arrecifes artificiales. Rev Invest Mar 7(3):3–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Deleveaux VKW, Bethel G (2002) National report on the spiny lobster fishery in the Bahamas. FAO Fish Rep 715:161–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston DB, Lipcius RN (1992) Shelter selection by spiny lobster under variable predation risk, social conditions, and shelter size. Ecology 73:992–1011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston DB, Lipcius RN, Miller D, Cobá-Cetina L (1990) Shelter scaling regulates survival of Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 62:70–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston DB, Lipcius RN, Miller DL (1992) Artificial shelters and survival of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus: spatial, habitat and lobster size effects. Fish Bull 90:691–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston DB, Lipcius RN, Grover JJ (1997) Predator and shelter-size effects on coral reef fish and spiny lobster prey. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 149:43–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Forcucci D, Butler MJ, Hunt JH (1994) Population dynamics of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, in Florida Bay, Florida. Bull Mar Sci 54:805–818

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester GE, Steele MA (2004) Predators, prey refuges, and the spatial scaling of density-dependent prey mortality. Ecology 85:1332–1342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnkind WF (1980) Spiny lobsters: patterns of movements. In: Cobb JS, Phillips BF (eds) The biology and management of lobsters, vol 1. Academic Press, New York, pp 349–407

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrnkind WF, Butler MJ, Hunt JH, Childress MJ (1997) Role of physical refugia: implications from a mass sponge die-off in a lobster nursery in Florida. Mar Freshwater Res 48:759–769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnkind WF, Butler MJ, Hunt JH (1999) A case of shelter replacement in a disturbed spiny lobster nursery in Florida: why basic research had to come first. Am Fish Soc Symp 22:421–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrnkind WF, Childress MJ, Lavalli KL (2001) Cooperative defence and other benefits among exposed spiny lobsters: inferences from group size and behaviour. Mar Freshwater Res 52:1113–1124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA (1998) Population dynamics of coral reef fishes: controversial concepts and hypotheses. Aust J Ecol 23:192–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Beets JP (1993) Predation, prey refuges, and the structure of coral-reef fish assemblages. Ecol Monogr 63:77–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Carr MH (1997) Synergistic predation, density dependence, and population regulation in marine fish. Science 277:946–949

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Jones GP (2005) Competition, predation, and density-dependent mortality in demersal marine fishes. Ecology 86:2847–2859

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James PJ, Tong LJ, Paewai MP (2001) Effect of stocking density and shelter on growth and mortality of early juvenile Jasus edwardsii held in captivity. Mar Freshwater Res 52:1413–1417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1987) Competitive interactions among adults and juveniles in a coral reef fish. Ecology 68:1534–1547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keough MJ, Mapstone BD (1995) Protocols for designing marine ecological monitoring programs associated with BEK mills. National Pulp Mills Res Prog Tech Rep no. 11. CSIRO, Canberra

  • Keough MJ, Quinn GP (2000) Legislative vs. practical protection of an intertidal shoreline in southeastern Australia. Ecol Appl 10:871–881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton JD, Burnham KP, Clobert J, Anderson DR (1992) Modelling survival and testing biological hypotheses using marked animals: a unified approach with case studies. Ecol Monogr 62:67–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lellis WA, Russell JA (1990) Effect of temperature on survival, growth and feed intake of postlarval spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Aquaculture 90:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lima SL (2002) Putting predators back into behavioral predator-prey interactions. Trends Ecol Evol 17:70–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipcius RN, Eggleston DB (2000) Ecology and fishery biology of spiny lobsters. In: Phillips BF, Kittaka J (eds) Spiny lobsters: fisheries and culture, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano-Álvarez E (1995) Requisitos para la introducción de refugios artificiales en pesquerías de langostas. Rev Cubana Invest Pesq 19(2):21–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano-Álvarez E, Briones-Fourzán P (2001) Den choice and occupation patterns of shelters by two sympatric lobster species, Panulirus argus and Panulirus guttatus, under experimental conditions. Mar Freshwater Res 52:1145–1155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano-Álvarez E, Spanier E (1997) Behaviour and growth of captive spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) under the risk of predation. Mar Freshwater Res 48:707–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano-Álvarez E, Briones-Fourzán P, Ramos-Aguilar ME (2003) Distribution, shelter fidelity, and movements of subadult spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) in areas with artificial shelters (Casitas). J Shellfish Res 22:533–540

    Google Scholar 

  • Minchinton TE (1997) Life on the edge: conspecific attraction and recruitment of populations to disturbed habitats. Oecologia 111:45–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mintz JD, Lipcius RN, Eggleston DB, Seebo MS (1994) Survival of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster: effects of shelter size, geographic location, and conspecific abundance. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 112:255–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Negrete-Soto F, Lozano-Álvarez E, Briones-Fourzán P (2002) Population dynamics of the spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus (Latreille) in a coral reef on the Mexican Caribbean. J Shellfish Res 21:279–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Nevitt G, Pentcheff ND, Lohmann KJ, Zimmer RK (2000) Den selection by the spiny lobster Panulirus argus: testing attraction to conspecific odors in the field. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 203:225–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman GG, Pollock DE (1974) Growth of the rock lobster Jasus lalandii and its relationship to benthos. Mar Biol 24:339–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okechi JK, Polovina JJ (1995) An evaluation of artificial shelters in the artisanal spiny lobster fishery in Gazi Bay, Kenya. S Afr J Mar Sci 16:373–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Osenberg CW, St.Mary CM, Wilson JA, Lindberg WJ (2002) A quantitative framework to evaluate the attraction-production issue. ICES J Mar Sci 59:S222–S229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson CH, Grabowski JH, Powers SP (2003) Estimated enhancement of fish production resulting from restoring oyster reef habitat: quantitative valuation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 264:249–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickering H, Whitmarsh D (1997) Artificial reefs and fisheries exploitation: a review of the “attraction versus production” debate, the influence of design and its significance to policy. Fish Res 31:39–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polovina JJ (1991) Fisheries applications and biological impacts of artificial habitats. In: Seaman W Jr, Sprage LM (eds) Artificial habitats for marine and freshwater fisheries. Academic Press, New York, pp 153–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Polovina JJ, Sakai I (1985) Impacts of artificial reefs on fishery production in Shimamaki, Japan. Bull Mar Sci 44:997–1003

    Google Scholar 

  • Powers SP, Grabowski JH, Peterson CH, Lindberg WJ (2003) Estimating enhancement of fish production by offshore artificial reefs: uncertainty exhibited by divergent scenarios. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 264:265–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratchford SG, Eggleston DB (1998) Size- and scale-dependent chemical attraction contributes to an ontogenetic shift in sociality. Anim Behav 56:1027–1034

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sale PF, Tolimieri N (2000) Density dependence at some time and place? Oecologia 124:166–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandin SA, Pacala SW (2005) Fish aggregation results in inversely density-dependent predation on continuous coral reefs. Ecology 86:1520–1530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt BR, Schaub M, Anholt BR (2002) Why you should use capture–recapture methods when estimating survival and breeding probabilities: on bias, temporary emigration, overdispersion, and common toads. Amphibia–Reptilia 23:375–388

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz CJ, Seber GAF (1999) Estimating animal abundance: review III. Stat Sci 14:427–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seijo JC, Salas S, Arceo P, Fuentes D (1991) Análisis bioeconómico comparativo de la pesquería de langosta Panulirus argus de la plataforma continental de Yucatán. FAO Fish Rep 431(Suppl):39–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharp WC, Lellis WA, Butler MJ, Herrnkind WF, Hunt JH, Pardee-Woodring M, Matthews TR (2000) The use of coded microwire tags in mark-recapture studies of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus. J Crustacean Biol 20:510–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith KN, Herrnkind WF (1992) Predation on early juvenile spiny lobsters Panulirus argus (Latreille): influence of size and shelter. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 157:3–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sosa-Cordero E, Arce A, Aguilar-Dávila W, Ramírez-González A (1998) Artificial shelters for spiny lobster Panulirus argus (Latreille): an evaluation of occupancy in different benthic habitats. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 229:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele MA (1999) Effects of shelter and predators on reef fishes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 233:65–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart-Oaten A, Murdoch WW (1986) Environmental impact assessment: “pseudoreplication” in time? Ecology 67:929–940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1993) The mechanics of spatially replicated sampling programmes to detect environmental impacts in a variable world. Aust J Ecol 18:99–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wahle RA (2003) Revealing stock-recruitment relationships in lobsters and crabs: is experimental ecology the key? Fish Res 65:3–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White GC, Burnham KP (1999) Program MARK: survival estimation from populations of marked animals. Bird Study 46(Suppl):120–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White GC, Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2001) Advanced features of program MARK. In: Field R, Warren J, Arkama H, Sievert PR (eds) Wildlife, land, and people: priorities for the 21st century. Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Md., pp 368–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson J, Osenberg CW, St.Mary CM, Watson CA, Lindberg WL (2001) Artificial reefs, the attraction-production issue, and density dependence in marine ornamental fishes. Aquar Sci Conserv 3:95–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We greatly appreciate L. Álvarez-Filip, J. Estrada-Olivo, S. Garza-Garza, L. González-Reynoso, D. Guevara-Muñoz, C. Meiners-Mandujano, V. Monroy-Velázquez, C. Rivera-Díaz, and I. Segura-García for their help in field work. F. Ruiz-Rentería provided processed data on daily water temperature. This study was funded by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Project 1171-N) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. The experiment complied with the current laws of Mexico. Scientific fishing permits were issued by the Secretary of the Environment (SEMARNAP, México, 1997–2000) and the Secretary of Agriculture and Fisheries (SAGARPA, México, 2001–2002).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Unidad Académica Puerto Morelos, P.O. Box 1152, Cancún, QR, 77500, Mexico

    Patricia Briones-Fourzán, Enrique Lozano-Álvarez, Fernando Negrete-Soto & Cecilia Barradas-Ortiz

Authors
  1. Patricia Briones-Fourzán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Enrique Lozano-Álvarez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fernando Negrete-Soto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cecilia Barradas-Ortiz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia Briones-Fourzán.

Additional information

Communicated by Pete Peterson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Briones-Fourzán, P., Lozano-Álvarez, E., Negrete-Soto, F. et al. Enhancement of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters: an evaluation of changes in multiple response variables with the addition of large artificial shelters. Oecologia 151, 401–416 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0595-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0595-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation