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Full-Text Articles in Aquaculture and Fisheries
Effects Of Predation Upon The Long-Spined Sea Urchin Diadema Antillarum By The Spotted Spiny Lobster Panulirus Guttatus, Meredith D. Kintzing, Mark J. Butler Iv
Effects Of Predation Upon The Long-Spined Sea Urchin Diadema Antillarum By The Spotted Spiny Lobster Panulirus Guttatus, Meredith D. Kintzing, Mark J. Butler Iv
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Sea urchins, important herbivores in marine ecosystems, are strongly impacted by both the direct and indirect effects of predation, and the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum is no exception. Once abundant on Caribbean coral reefs, D. antillarum populations were decimated by disease in the early 1980s, and only where their natural predators have been over-fished has D. antillarum recovery been observed. Spiny lobsters (Palinuridae) are predators of sea urchins, and although there are several species of spiny lobster in the Caribbean, only the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus is restricted to coral reefs where D. antillarum dwells. We investigated the …
Regional Characterisation Of Hard-Bottom Nursery Habitat For Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) Using Rapid Assessment Techniques, Rodney D. Bertelsen, Mark J. Butler Iv, William F. Herrnkind, John H. Hunt
Regional Characterisation Of Hard-Bottom Nursery Habitat For Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) Using Rapid Assessment Techniques, Rodney D. Bertelsen, Mark J. Butler Iv, William F. Herrnkind, John H. Hunt
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Shallow, hard-bottom habitat constitutes approximately 30% of the coastal waters of south Florida, United States, yet it is a chronically understudied feature of the marine seascape in this region. In this study, we characterised the general biogeographic and structural features of shallow benthic hard-bottom communities in the Florida Keys, and related those to the abundance of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), the target of one of Florida's most economically valuable fisheries. We used rapid assessment techniques to survey more than 100 hard-bottom sites in the Florida Keys to estimate the percentage bottom coverage of vegetation (seagrass and …