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The Influence Of Temperature Salinity And Postlarval Transport On The Distribution Of Juvenile Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus Argus, In Florida Bay, Jennifer Marie Field
The Influence Of Temperature Salinity And Postlarval Transport On The Distribution Of Juvenile Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus Argus, In Florida Bay, Jennifer Marie Field
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Florida Bay is a major nursery for the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus. The Bay contains a series of hardbottom or seagrass-covered basins separated by mudbanks, which serve as barriers to water circulation and presumably to transport of postlarvae. Temperatures can fluctuate dramatically in the basins and salinities range from 35 ppt to > 50 ppt. In this study I: i) investigated the physiological tolerance of spiny lobster postlarvae to combinations of temperature and salinity representative of conditions in Florida Bay, and ii) examined how postlarval availability and habitat structure influence spiny lobster recruitment into basins. I measured juvenile lobster …