Open AccessTHE EFFECTS OF FEEDING FREQUENCY AND SPACE ON THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN LOBSTER, Homarus americanus 1
Author(s) -
Shleser Robert A.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
proceedings of the annual meeting ‐ world mariculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0164-0399
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1974.tb00186.x
Subject(s) - homarus , american lobster , juvenile , zoology , growth rate , biology , crustacean , fishery , ecology , mathematics , geometry
The lobster is cannibalistic; animals which have been grown beyond the juvenile stages must be separated and held individually. It is essential to determine the effects of habitat configuration and spatial limitation on the growth rate of individually held lobsters. As a first step in determining optimum configuration for holding lobster, rectangular, square and circular environments are examined. Configuration has no significant effect on growth. However, significant differences in growth occur between smaller and larger habitats. Lobsters which are held individually must be individually fed. In order to obtain the optimal growth rate at the lowest cost, we have examined the effect of feeding lobsters an amount of food which slightly exceeds the daily femand at greater than one day intervals. An equal oprtion of food was given at 1,2, and 3‐day intervals. The results of these studies indicated that at least daily feeding was necessary for juvenile lobsters.