Abstract

Habitat requirements of adult Caribbean Spiny Lobsters (Panulirus argus) have been described in many studies, but post-settlement and juvenile habitat requirements are still poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to determine and describe habitats inhabited by juvenile lobster around South Caicos, TCI. Potential lobster habitats were described by estimating benthic coverage using 1m2 quadrats. Other potential lobster habitats were detected using spectral quality of satellite images. Visual surveys were carried out to estimate densities of juvenile lobster.\Juvenile lobsters were found in habitats with a relatively high abundance of the Rhodophyte, Neogoniolithon spp. and not in Laurencia spp. dominated habitats as observed in previous studies. Two areas were found to be important habitat for juvenile lobster: Gingerbread and East Bay. Gingerbread was found to be an extensive area with Neogoniolithon coverage of up to 50%. East Bay had densely covered areas with up to 80% of Thalassia testudinum and 10 to 20% of Neogoniolithon spp. Areas with a combined coverage of these two species contained high numbers of lobsters. Gingerbread was found to have a density of 138 lobster/ha, whereas East Bay was found to have a density of 1,199 lobsterlha. Lobster caught at East Bay were significantly smaller than lobster caught at Gingerbread.

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