New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Growth and moulting of captive Panulirus homarus homarus in Kenya,
western Indian Ocean
A. J. Kulmiye
K. M. Mavuti
Department of Zoology
University of Nairobi
P.O. Box 30197, G.P.O. 00100
Nairobi, Kenya
email: akulmiye@uonbi.ac.ke
Abstract Panulirus homarus homarus is the most
widely distributed of the three P. homarus subspecies and is the second
most important spiny lobster in the Kenyan lobster fishery after Panulirus
ornatus. Growth and moulting of lobsters held in concrete tanks with
a flow-through sea-water system and at ambient temperatures, were monitored
for 18 months (October 2001–March 2003). Both moult increment and moulting
frequency were inversely correlated with size. Mean moult increment ranged
from 4 mm in the 36-45 mm carapace length (CL) size class to 0.6 mm in the
86-95 mm CL size class. Mean intermoult period increased from 49 days in
the 46-55 mm CL size class to 66 days in the 76-85 mm CL size class. Growth
rates were 19% and 46% higher for males and females, respectively during
the south-east monsoon (low temperature) season than during the north-east
monsoon (high temperature) season. A shift in energy use from growth to reproduction
rather than the influence of temperature was responsible for the variation
in the growth rates between the two seasons. Marking-induced injury caused
a significant 65% growth reduction in the affected individuals. Mean moult
increments calculated for most size classes of uninjured lobsters were comparable
to those observed in the subtropical P. homarus rubellus reared in
the laboratory in South Africa but smaller than those reported in the Indian
P. homarus under similar conditions.
Keywords Panulirus homarus; growth; moulting;
injury; seasonality; Kenya
M04031; Online publication date 8 June 2005 Received 9 February 2004;
accepted 13 September 2004
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2005, Vol. 39:
539-549
0028-8330/05/3903-0539 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005
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