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Strong Interactions Between Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) And Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus Briareus) In The Florida Keys, Jennifer Anne Lear
Strong Interactions Between Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) And Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus Briareus) In The Florida Keys, Jennifer Anne Lear
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Coexisting species may simultaneously compete for resources and interact as predator and prey, creating a strong interaction that can alter the structure of animal communities. This type of interaction potentially occurs between juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) and Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) within hard-bottom habitats in the Florida Keys, FL (USA), where octopuses may consume juvenile lobsters and also compete with them for limited crevice shelters. I conducted a series of field and mesocosm studies to investigate the nature of octopus-lobster interactions and their implications for the structure of their populations in the wild. …