A Review of the Contribution of J. Stanley Cobb to the Field of Lobster Research

Abstract

The interaction between behavior, ecology and fisheries management is complex. It is no less so in lobster fisheries than in any other fishery, and knowledge of the behavior of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, is critical to the successful management of this icon species. Stanley Cobb has spent a lifetime studying the American lobster. In addition to his own research, Stan has been the supervisor of 35 students who have obtained postgraduate qualifications to allow them to carry out further studies in this ever expanding field of research. The first papers published by Stan Cobb were, not surprisingly, all on the American lobster H. americanus (Cobb, 1968). The first study investigated whether there was a difference in time of molt of larval H. americanus to the juvenile stage if the bottom conditions varied between mud, sand, gravel and bare conditions. Larvae on a gravel substrate moulted significantly earlier than on all other substrates, supporting the hypotheses that bottom conditions are important in the time of molt to the epibenthic life of a juvenile lobster. The second study continued that of the first (Cobb, 1970). It was designed to discover what factor of the gravel substrate had affected the duration of the fourth stage larvae. However, the effects of being held singly or in pairs, and with two levels of illumination, were also tested in the experiment. In typical fashion the substrate type had no detectable effect on the larvae, and nor did the light. However, solitude did. This is how science progresses! The third of these studies was on adult lobsters, and investigated some of the relationships between a lobster and its shelter (Cobb, 1971). The method of excavating a shelter, its dimensions related to the size of the lobster, and the preferred level of darkness within the shelter, were all defined by this study. There was a positive relationship between lobster size and shelter size (Cobb, 1971). Larger lobsters choose, or construct, larger shelters by burrowing. They also may maintain a minimum distance between occupied shelters through aggression. These fundamental observations were used to determine the sizes of shelter