The Lobster Newsletter January 1992
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VOLUME FIVE RESEARCH NEWS RECENT EVENTS "Larval" Life in the Egg: An Embryonic Marine Lobsters Volt Cycle in the American Lobster of the World FROM., BARBARA BELTZ AND SIMONE HELLUY The mail in late 1991 brought an extraordinary compilation of the Our interest in the development and differentiation of the nervous species of lobster. L. B. Holthuis system in crustaceans has lead us to an examination of the general em- has published an annotated and bryonic development of the lobster Homarus americanus. We have estab- illustrated catalogue of marine lished a quantitative staging system that spans the entire period from lobster species of interest to fertilization to hatching, and have documented more fully a variety of fisheries. The families covered anatomical and behavioral features during embryogenesis (see Figure 1). (which are a bit wider than we, in Various aspects of the perihatching period, as well as larval and postlar- this Newsletter, generally talk val life, have been examined in detail in other labs recently. However, about as lobsters) are: most of the studies concerned with the prehatching period date back to the nineteenth century, and they focus primarily on early embryonic life Thaumastochelidae while largely ignoring middle and late embryonic periods. Nephropidae Polychelidae The principal features involved in the reproduction and early develop- Glyphidae ment of the lobster are well known. After copulation, spermatozoa are Palinuridae stored by the female for several months until oviposition and fertilization Synaxidae occur. Egg development spans about 10 months, from egg extrusion in Scyllaridae Thalassinidae CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Upogebebiidae Callianassidae. FISHERIES UPDATE ` The introductory paragraph says: "This catalogue intends to include The Cuban Spiny Lobster Fishery all those species of marine lobsters that are of interest to fisheries, FROM: RAUL CRUZ according to the following three criteria: (i) all species known to be used for food, (ii) species known The spiny lobster is the most valuable commercial species of Cuba's sea to be sold for bait and as grass and coral reef communities. The fishery began with the establish- subproducts, (iii) species not ex- ment of a processing plant at La Coloma, Pinar del Rio in the early 1930s. Recent catches (1984-1988) have averaged 12,500 t per annum, making ploited at present but considered Cuba's fishery the single most important producer of by experts to be of potential com- Panulirus argus mercial value. The last category and one of the largest lobster exporting countries in the world. Export values during this period averaged US $ 100 million per year. includes deep-sea forms which during exploratory fishing cruises were found to be sufficiently CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 1 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 contradictory presence of a stridu- The catchability coefficients for RECENT EVENTS lating organ in Palibythus suggests the two fishing methods used in that Palinurellus should not be the Batabano Gulf were calcu- placed in the Synaxidae, and that lated for the period 1979 to 1991. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 both should be considered primi- Artificial shelters are now the abundant, large enough in size, tive palinurids. On the other hand, principal method of capture; and sufficiently accessible to fish- Holthius (1991, noted above) placed traps are only used during Octo- ing gear so that a fishery for them Davie's new Palibythus in the ber to February, the period of might be profitable. Edible species Synaxidae, and left both Palinurellus mass migration. Despite the found in markets as an admixture species in the Synaxidae. interannual variability in the to the main catch are included, catchability coefficients, they are even if they only make up a negli- considered useful for the catch- gible percentage of the catch." Cuban Fishing Science forecasting system under devel- and opment. The illustrations are superb, and Technology Seminar the information is important to all "Tentlencias del reclutamiento a la lobster biologists. The book will be The Fisheries Research Center for pesqueria de la langosta Panulirus reviewed in a later number of The the Ministry of Fisheries sponsored argus en el Golfo de Batabano" by R. Lobster Newsletter. its "First Seminar on Fishing Sci- Puga, R. Cruz y M. E. de Leon. ence and Technology", held in Ha- vana, Cuba in January, 1992. The Recruitment to the fishable seminar covered a wide variety of stocks of P. argus in the Batabano New Genus of Lobster topics including 15 papers on Gulf, an area that yields 60% of Panulirus argus. Most of the authors the Cuban catch, was assessed Peter Davie of the Queensland belong to Cuba's "Centro de for the period 1974 to 1990. The Museum in Brisbane, Australia Investigaciones Pesqueras". They recruitment index was defined recently described a new genus are attempting to improve both the as the abundance of two year and species of lobster. According management system and their abili- olds. Three year olds tnake up to his paper (P.J.F. Davie 1990, ties to predict catches. Below is a the majority of the commercial Invertebrate Taxonomy 4, 685- brief surrunary of the papers pre- catch. The authors showed the 695)Palibythus magnificus is a spiny sented on the biology and/or fish- recruitment index, lagged by one lobster in the "Stridentes" group ery science of spiny lobsters. year, explains 50% of the varia- of genera in the Palinuridae. The tion in annual landings. Work holotype came from deep water "Tendencias de las pesquerias de continues in an attempt to dis- off the coast of Savaii, in Western langosta en el Mar Caribe y regiones cern the other primary causes for adyacentes" by R. Cruz, M. E. de the variance in landings. Leon y R. Puga. The The catch statistics were analyzed for the spiny lobster fishery of the Lobster NEWSLETTER west central Atlantic. This area Editors: yields the highest catch of J. Stanley Cobb Palinuridae in the world; annual Department of Zoology landings ranged between 27 000 University of Rhode Island Kingston RI 02881 USA and 35 000 tons over the last ten - FAX: (401) 792 4256 Palibythus magnificus years. The main fishery takes place off Cuba, Brazil, the Baha- John Pringle mas, Honduras and Florida. A Fisheries and Oceans Samoa. It differs from all other relationship was found between PO Box 550 known genera, except Palinurellus, Halifax B3J 257 the catches of the Bahamas and CANADA by having a flat and triangular those of Cuba's north central shelf. FAX: (902) 426 3479 rostrum, and a narrow thoracic This may be due to a common sternum. The similarity suggests a larval source. The Lobster Newsletter is cospon- close relationship between the two sored by Fisheries & Oceans, Canada and the Rhode Island Sea Grant genera. However, Palinurellus "Aspect os de la dinamica de Prograrn. It is published twice yearly. does not have a stridulating poblaciones de la langosta espinosa organ. Palinurellus was placed in Panulirus argus en Cuba: Cam bios en Coordination: Ron Dug,gan the Synaxidae by George and el coeficiente de capturabilidad" by R. Main in 1967. Davie says that the Please send change of address to Cruz, R. Puga y M. E de Leon. John Pringle. close similarity to Palinurellus but The Lobster Newsletter - Volume 5, Number 1: January 1992 Page 2 "Analisis de las capturas de langosta New Species of Panulirus argus en la Isla de la Juventud durante el periodo 1985- Slipper Lobster FISHERIES 1990" by P. Sahalange. Md. K. Rahman wrote that he has UPDATE Catch and effort data for the recently described a new species of CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Island of Youth enterprise was slipper, or sand, lobster in the analyzed. genus Scyllarus. The new species, The fishery operates in four dis- Scyllarus tutiensis, was found in tinct zones around the country. "Estimacion de parametros de Tuticorin Bay of the Gulf of crecimiento de Panulirus argus del Each are separated by areas with a Mannar, India. The animal matures narrow shelf (Fig. 1). The fishing Golfo de Batabano, Cuba" by M. I. de at a carapace length of 16mm, grounds are characterized by Leon, R. Puga y R. Cruz. judging from berried specimens sandy to rocky bottom inter- collected in the region. The maxi- spersed with sea grass beds The growth parameters for P. mum size recorded thus far is (Thalassia testudinium) and coral argus in the Batabano Gulf were 58mm total length. A paper describ- reef. There is little movement of updated by taking into account ing the new species is now in press adults among zones, thus each are the length frequency compostion in the Journal of the Marine Biologi- managed as separate stocks. of juveniles in nursery areas and cal Association of India. the adults of the fishing grounds. The results were: L- = 190 mm Management regulations include a CL, K = 0.31 for males and L- = 90 day closed season (usually 175 mm CL and K = 0.24 for fe- Recent Graduates between March and May), a mini- males. mum legal size (210 mm total length -Lt), non-possession of egg- We have been informed of two bearing females and a ban on "Pueden los ciclones tropicales recently completed theses. Con- spear fishing. Prior to 1978, 19% of provocar migraciones masivas de gratulations to Dr. D.S. Jayakody, of the yearly catch was composed of langosta?" by B. Hernandez, C. the National Aquatic Resources undersized (shorts) animals. Garcia y J. Baisre. Agency in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Stricter enforcement of short pos- who completed his Ph.D. at Stirling session and a doubling of the 45 The impact of tropical storms on University in the U.K. in late 1991. day closure were introduced in P. argus catches in the Batabano His Ph.D.