California spiny lobster
California spiny lobster | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Family: | Palinuridae |
Genus: | Panulirus |
Species: | P. interruptus
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Binomial name | |
Panulirus interruptus (J. W. Randall, 1840) [2]
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Range of Panulirus interruptus: main areas in red; peripheral areas in darker red | |
Synonyms [3] | |
Palinurus interruptus J. W. Randall, 1840 |
The California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) is a species of spiny lobster found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Monterey Bay, California, to the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico. It typically grows to a length of 30 cm (12 in) and is a reddish-brown color with stripes along the legs, and has a pair of enlarged antennae but no claws. The interrupted grooves across the tail are characteristic for the species.
Females can carry up to 680,000 eggs, which hatch after 10 weeks into flat phyllosoma larvae. These feed on plankton before the metamorphosis into the juvenile state. Adults are nocturnal and migratory, living among rocks at depths of up to 65 m (213 ft), and feeding on sea urchins, clams, mussels and worms. The spiny lobster is eaten by various fish, octopuses and sea otters, but can defend itself with a loud noise produced by its antennae. The California spiny lobster is the subject of both commercial and recreational fishery in both Mexico and the United States, with sport fishermen using hoop nets and commercial fishermen using lobster traps.
Description
In common with all spiny lobsters, the California spiny lobster has two large, spiny antennae, but no large claws on its legs. The California spiny lobster is one of the largest spiny lobster species,[4] and grows up to 60 centimeters (24 in) long, but does not usually exceed 30 cm (12 in).[3] Males can weigh up to 7.4 kilograms (16 lb).,[4] with the record being a 16 lbs., 1 oz. male caught off Catalina island in 1968. The upper side of the animal is brownish red, without the paler bands or spots seen in some other spiny lobsters. The legs are a similar color, but with one or more lighter streaks running along their length.[3]
Males and females of all ages can be distinguished by the position of the two round genital openings or
Distribution
The California spiny lobster is found in parts of the
California spiny lobsters live on rocky substrates, at depths of up to 65 meters (213 ft). Although adults can be found in shallow water, including tide pools, they are more frequent in deeper waters.[3] Juveniles generally inhabit rocky habitats at a depth of 0–4 m (0–13 ft) with dense plant cover, especially the surf grass Phyllospadix torreyi.[7]
Ecology and behavior
California spiny lobsters are nocturnal,[3] hiding in crevices during the day, with only the tips of their long antennae showing, as a means of avoiding predators. Towards dawn, the spiny lobsters form aggregations, which they maintain until dusk.[8] At night, they emerge and feed on sea urchins, clams, mussels and worms.[9] This activity is important in limiting sea urchin populations, and so maintaining healthy seabed communities.[6]
Natural predators of the California spiny lobster include
There is an annual migration, in which spiny lobsters enter shallower water in spring and summer, and head out to deeper water in fall and winter, reaching depths as great as 240 ft (73 m), perhaps to avoid the effects of winter storms.[4]
Life cycle
Female California spiny lobsters reach sexual maturity at a length of 65–69 millimeters (2.6–2.7 in), which is typically at an age of 5–9 years; males are sexually mature after 3–6 years.[5] Because all the hard parts are lost at each molt, the life span of mature spiny lobsters is uncertain;[5] they are thought to live for 50 years or more.[4]
Spiny lobsters do not have the
After mating, the fertilized eggs are carried on the female's
The diet of the juveniles is varied, but comprises mostly amphipods and isopods, together with coralline algae and the plant Phyllospadix. When available, the juveniles prefer to eat crabs.[14]
Fishery
In his original description,
Sport fishing in California
The
- Open seasonfor California spiny lobster runs from the Saturday before the first Wednesday in October until the first Wednesday after March 15.
- No implements other than hoop nets may be used; no one person may have more than 5 nets and no vessel may use more than 10 hoop nets. When fishing from land, each fisherman is limited to two hoop nets.
- Lobster fishers may not land more than seven California spiny lobsters on any given day, and may not have more than seven in their possession at any time.
- Fishers must carry a lobster gauge, and any lobster smaller than the minimum landing size must be returned to the sea immediately. The minimum size is a carapace length of 3+1⁄4 inches (82.6 mm), measured along the midline from the rear of the eye socket between the horns, to the end of the carapace. This is equivalent to a total body length of 20 centimeters or 7.9 inches.[3]
- To fish for spiny lobster south of Point Arguello, a sport fishing license with ocean enhancement stamp must be displayed or kept nearby.
- A report card for the season must be bought, filled in and returned before April 30 after the season ends.
- Commercial and recreational traps must not be interfered with.
Commercial fishing in California
The open season for commercial fishing begins on the first Wednesday in October and runs until the first Wednesday after the 15th of March. Commercial fishermen may use individually buoyed traps, but may not dive for lobsters.[17]
For those using lobster traps, the fishing effort is greatest at the beginning of the permitted season in California, and peters out towards the end of the season, 24 weeks later. Although the fishing effort becomes better concentrated on areas with more spiny lobsters during the season, the fishing efficiency (catch per unit effort) nonetheless decreases throughout the season.[18]
Fishing in Mexico
In Mexico, spiny lobsters are an important commercial resource, representing the fifth most valuable fishery, worth US$18 million. Three species are exploited along the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula, but the catch of 744 t of the California spiny lobster makes up 95%–97% of the total, with only small quantities of Panulirus inflatus and Panulirus gracilis.[14] The fishing rights are held by 26 local co-operatives.[7]
The main legal restrictions on fishing for California spiny lobster in Mexico are a minimum landing size of 82.5 mm (3.25 in), the prohibition of catching berried females, and a closed season:[7] from February 16 to September 14, fishing for spiny lobsters is prohibited in a region which moves south along Mexico's Pacific coast during the season.[19]
Start date | End date | Northern limit | Southern limit |
---|---|---|---|
September 15 | February 15 | Mexico – United States border |
An imaginary line running west from the mouth of El Tordillo |
March 1 | September 30 | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of El Tordillo | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of Boca de la Soledad |
May 16 | November 15 | An imaginary line running west from the mouth of Boca de la Soledad | Cabo San Lucas |
The Mexican fishery for the California spiny lobster was the first
Names
Panulirus interruptus is called the California spiny lobster by the
Related species
The closest relatives are not the other species that occur in the East Pacific, but rather Panulirus argus from the Caribbean Sea and West Pacific species such as Panulirus japonicus, Panulirus marginatus, Panulirus pascuensis, Panulirus cygnus and Panulirus longipes; this relationship has been recovered from comparative studies of adult and larval morphology,[21] as well as from molecular phylogenetics, using the sequences from cytochrome c oxidase and 16S ribosomal RNA genes.[22]
The California spiny lobster can be differentiated from the other species in the genus by the interrupted grooves across the abdomen; other species either lack grooves, or have grooves which span the entire body segment.[3]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Panulirus interruptus (J. W. Randall, 1840)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ ISBN 92-5-103027-8. Archived from the originalon 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
- ^ California Department of Fish and Game. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 28, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: TR EL-82–4. 10 pp
- ^ a b c d Alice Cascorbi (February 10, 2004). "Seafood Watch Seafood Report. Spiny Lobsters, Vol. II. California Spiny Lobster Panulirus interruptus" (PDF). Monterey Bay Aquarium. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- ^ a b c Chet Chaffee (March 21, 2004). "An MSC Assessment of the Red Rock Lobster Fishery, Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). Marine Stewardship Council. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- JSTOR 1541391.
- ^ a b "California Spiny Lobster (Panulirus interruptus)". Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
- PMID 19425682.
- ^ S2CID 83932750. Archived from the originalon 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
- ^ a b c Martin W. Johnson (1960). "The offshore drift of larvae of the California spiny lobster Panulirus interruptus" (PDF). California Co-operative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations. 7: 147–161. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20.
- JSTOR 20105816.
- ^ S2CID 40610965. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-20.
- ^ Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 8 (1): 106–147.
- California Department of Fish and Game.
- California Department of Fish and Game. pp. 53–55. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
- S2CID 84438714.
- Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food. February 16, 2010.
- ^ "Certification of Mexican lobster fishery is win for environment and fishermen". World Wide Fund for Nature. April 28, 2004.
- ^ JSTOR 1548775.
- doi:10.1071/MF01070.
External links
- California Spiny Lobster (Panulirus interruptus) on YouTube
- Media related to Panulirus interruptus at Wikimedia Commons
- Photos of California spiny lobster on Sealife Collection