New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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On the growth of the European spiny lobster, Palinurus elephas from Sardinian waters (central western Mediterranean Sea)

Maria Cristina Follesa
Danila Cuccu
Rita Cannas
Angelo Cau

Department of Animal Biology and Ecology
University of Cagliari
Viale Poetto, 1–09126 Cagliari, Italy
email: follesac@unica.it

Abstract Growth of spiny lobsters Palinurus elephas was investigated using tagging data. A total of 4044 lobsters were tagged and released between 1997 and 2004 in an area off central-western Sardinia, Italy, where fishing is banned. The growth increments of 248 lobsters, recaptured inside the no-take area and in the surrounding zones, were recorded and analysed with two different procedures, and von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for each sex. Males showed a higher asymptotic carapace length than females (167.9 versus 120.2 mm). Growth increments recorded inside and outside the no-take area did not reveal any density-dependent effects on females. Small but non-significant differences were evident for males, showing faster growth in lobsters caught outside the no-take area.

Keywords tag recapture; no-take area; MPA; growth variability

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2007, Vol. 41: 377–383
0028–8330/07/4104–0377     © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2007
M07008; online publication date 20 November 2007
Received 9 February 2007; accepted 10 October 2007

 

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