We examined the histopathological and hematological response of the Caribbean spiny lobster to experimentally induced infections with Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1). The fixed phagocytes in the hepatopancreas were the primary sites of PaV1 infection in spiny lobsters. Fixed phagocytes were activated in early infections. However, as the disease progressed, the fixed phagocytes became infected an...

Increases in spiny lobster size and abundance have been observed within some marine protected areas (MPAs). To date, the potential economic benefits of these changes have been assumed to derive from the effects of emigration of adult lobster to adjacent fishing grounds and/or increased larval export to downstream nurseries that sustain fisheries. According to economic theory, these effects may ...

Few studies exist in which the parameters of a single behavior have been quantitatively compared for male and female lobsters. Here, we have examined the effects of sex and gravidity on the parameters of the escape behavior of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, elicited by a visual threat. Both non-gravid females and male lobsters readily tailflipped in response to the stimulus, but grav...

Nonfeeding postlarval pueruli of spiny lobsters migrate tens of kilometers across the continental shelf to settle in coastal waters. A model that analyzes hydrodynamic forces during swimming in the puerulus of Jasus edwardsii is described. The model calculates the speed at which forward propulsion balances drag. Calculated speeds agree with observed puerulus behavior. The computed mechanical wo...

Individual recognition in the lobster Homarus americanus (Milne-Edwards), is based on detection of urine pheromones via chemoreceptors of the lateral antennular flagellum. The specific sensory pathway mediating this recognition is not known. Most of the chemoreceptor cells of this flagellum are found in the unimodal aesthetasc sensilla and project specifically to the glomeruli of the olfactory ...

The oxygen consumption rate of the southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, was evaluated in response to body weight, temperature, activity, handling, diurnal rhythm, feeding and oxygen saturation level. There was a positive relationship between standard oxygen consumption (M(O(2))) and both body weight and water temperature. The relationship between total oxygen consumption and wet whole body w...