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Determination of Moulting Events in Rock Lobsters from Pleopod clipping
Citation
Gardner, C and Mills, DJ, Determination of Moulting Events in Rock Lobsters from Pleopod clipping, PLoS One, 8, (8) Article e74146. ISSN 1932-6203 (2013) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2013 the Author
DOI: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074146
Abstract
Rock lobster growth is routinely measured for research to optimise management measures such as size limits and
quotas. The process of estimating growth is complicated in crustaceans as growth only occurs when the animal
moults. As data are typically collected by tag-recapture methods, the timing of moulting events can bias results. For
example, if annual moulting events take place within a very short time-at-large after tagging, or if time-at-large is long
and no moulting occurs. Classifying data into cases where moulting has / has not occurred during time-at-large can
be required and can generally be determined by change in size between release and recapture. However, in old or
slow growth individuals the moult increment can be too small to provide surety that moulting has occurred. A method
that has been used since the 1970’s to determine moulting in rock lobsters involves clipping the distal portion of a
pleopod so that any regeneration observed at recapture can be used as evidence of a moult. We examined the use
of this method in both tank and long-duration field trials within a marine protected area, which provided access to
large animals with smaller growth increments. Our results emphasised that determination of moulting by change in
size was unreliable with larger lobsters and that pleopod clipping can assist in identifying moulting events. However,
regeneration was an unreliable measure of moulting if clipping occurred less than three months before the moult.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences |
| Research Group: | Fisheries Sciences |
| Research Field: | Fisheries Management |
| Objective Division: | Animal Production and Animal Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Fisheries - Wild Caught |
| Objective Field: | Wild Caught Rock Lobster |
| UTAS Author: | Gardner, C (Professor Caleb Gardner) |
| ID Code: | 86224 |
| Year Published: | 2013 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 1 |
| Deposited By: | Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration |
| Deposited On: | 2013-08-29 |
| Last Modified: | 2014-11-24 |
| Downloads: | 292 View Download Statistics |
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