Nassau Grouper and Spiny Lobster Nursery Habitats at Abaco and Andros Islands in the Bahamas: Recommendations for New Marine Protected Areas

28 Introduction In 1999, the Bahamian government announced a plan to protect 20% of the Bahamian marine environment as no-take marine reserves.1 Nursery habitats for two species of ecological and economic value, the Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus, and spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, will represent a significant component of the future marine protected areas. Both the Nassau grouper and spiny lobster are valuable fisheries species in the Bahamas region, and as top predators, both species can have a significant impact on coral reef ecosystem structure. My research is part of the Bahamas Biocomplexity Project (BBP), a five-year study funded by the National Science Foundation through the American Museum of Natural History. The intent of this interdisciplinary project is to assess the Exuma Cays land and Sea Park, established in 1958, and to expand the network of marine protected areas throughout the Bahamas archipelago. Both the Nassau grouper and spiny lobster are known to spend early life history stages in near shore shallow water habitats.2,3,4,5,6 Previous studies have reported an association of the early stages of both species with the red alga, Laurencia spp. The Nassau grouper spends late larval and early juvenile stages inshore in algal-covered coral clumps before moving to offshore coral reef habitats.2,3,4 Dahlgren and Eggleston noted a disproportionately high association between Nassau grouper and Laurencia spp., whereas the association with other habitat types, such as seagrass, was found to be in proportion to habitat availability.4 The spiny lobster also exhibits an ontogenetic habitat shift. It spends postlarval and early juvenile stages in benthic Laurencia spp. habitats.5,6 Laurencia spp. provides protection from predators and also harbors a community of organisms that serve as a potential prey for the Nassau grouper and spiny lobster.2,6 Eggleston determined that Laurencia spp. percent cover of 30% or greater represents a suitable nursery habitat for the Nassau grouper. 2The goal of my research was to identify areas of Abaco and Andros Islands that contain suitable nursery habitat for the Nassau grouper and spiny lobster. This project was designed to classify benthic habitats along selected transects at Abaco and Andros based on predominant benthic biota, and to quantitatively determine percent cover of benthic species in portions of the transects. Of particular interest is the distribution of the red macroalga, Laurencia spp., because of its documented role as nursery habitat for the Nassau grouper and spiny lobster. Seagrass is known to serve as a nursery habitat for many marine species, but its importance as a habitat for young Nassau grouper and spiny lobster is uncertain.2,7,8,9 In the present research, seagrass was a common habitat encountered and thus sea grass data are included in this report.