Spatial and Temporal Variability in Growth of Hawaiian Spiny Lobsters in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Abstract

Growth rates were estimated for recaptured Hawaiian spiny lobsters Panulirus marginatus tagged between 2002 and 2007 at Necker Island (23°30′N; 164°35′W), Gardner Pinnacles (25°00′N; 168°50′W), and Maro Reef (25°30′N; 170°45′W) in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The location and year‐specific nature of the tag–recapture cruises enabled investigation of spatial and temporal variability in growth. Mean growth rates, estimated by using the von Bertalanffy and Schnute growth models and fitted via a maximum likelihood technique, differed between sexes and particularly among locations and years. Male lobster growth rates at Necker Island were, in general, one‐third those at Gardner Pinnacles and one‐half those at Maro Reef. Female lobsters exhibited the same pattern with less‐pronounced differences. Maro Reef lobsters exhibited several abrupt, significant growth reductions among years, while Necker Island lobster growth rates increased significantly from 2004 to 2005. Model results also indicated substantial individual variability in growth. Neither density nor temperature could account for the differences in growth rates. No palinurid species studied to date has shown such spatial variability in growth, and only one panilurid species has exhibited similar variability on a temporal scale. Recognition of and accounting for the mean and individual variability in a life history trait of this endemic species will result in more accurate stock assessments and, ultimately, a better understanding of lobster dynamics and the NWHI coral reef ecosystem.