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Use of salt-marsh peat reefs by small juvenile lobsters on Cape Cod,Massachusetts |
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| Authors: | Kenneth W Able Kenneth L Heck Michael P Fahay Charles T Roman |
| Institution: | 1. Center for Coastal and Environmental Studies and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, 08903, New Brunswick, New Jersey 3. Marine Environmental Science, Consortium and University of South Alabama, P.O. Box 369, 36528, Dauphin Island, Alabama 4. Sandy Hook Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, 07732, Highlands, New Jersey 5. National Park Service Cooperative Research Unit Center for Coastal and Environmental Studies, Rutgers University, 08903, New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Abstract: | The habitats utilized by small juvenile (<40 mm carapace length, CL) lobsters (Homarus americanus) are poorly known. We discovered and studied an undescribed juvenile lobster habitat in Nauset Marsh, Cape Cod. Juvenile lobsters (X=26.7 mm carapace length, 6 to 72 mm, n=38) were collected from suction samples primarily 0144 01 in “peat reef” habitats during the period from August 1985 through October 1986. The reefs consisted of large blocks ofSpartina alterniflora peat that had separated from the marsh surface and fallen into adjacent subtidal marsh channels. The smallest lobsters (6 to 7 mm CL) were collected from peat reefs in October 1985, and April and July 1986. In these habitats, juvenile lobster density averaged 2.5 individuals m?2 (range 0–5.7) in suction samples. Peat reef habitats occur in other salt marshes in the northeastern United States and may be an important nursery habitat for small juvenile lobsters. |
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