Abstract

Panulirus argus puerulus settlement to artificial settlement substrates (“witham collectors”) was conducted at sites in the Belize lagoon system from August 2003 to April 2006. Sampling sites ranged from just south of Ambergris Caye in the north to St. George’s cay in the south. Sampling throughout the lunar cycle indicated that monthly peak settlement periods occurred during the week prior to the new moon. This patterns was most pronounced for transparent postlarvae. Annual peaks in settlement occurred during autumn months, but varied slightly between years. These temporal patterns varied somewhat between sites, primarily due to some sites consistently receiving low numbers of postlarvae and not showing any statistically significant temporal variability. Spatial variability in settlement was fairly consistent, with sites near the north end of Caye Caulker (including the North Caye Caulker, Flats and Calata Sites) having the greatest settlement rates during months when significant differences in settlement rates among sites were detected. Spatial and temporal variability in settlement may be influenced by habitat characteristics and wind-driven transport somewhat, but these factors do not explain much of the observed variability

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