Biodiversity of Lobster (Panulirus) from Eastern Indian Ocean of Indonesia Waters

Abstract

Lobster fisheries play a very important role in the development of Indonesian fisheries management. Lobster fishing for Indonesian people plays a role in the economic, social and political fields. The key reason for this important role is because lobster fisheries are dominated by small-scale fishermen. Lobster also has ecological functions that play a key role in a benthic aquatic ecosystem. Tropical lobsters in the Panulirus group in Indonesian waters (Eastern Indian Ocean) are the most species and have high endemic levels. It is reasonable if the Indonesian government makes lobster fisheries as one of the fisheries groups that need to be considered in its territorial fisheries management (FMARI: Fisheries Management Area of the Republic of Indonesia). Each management area has different ecological characteristics. Differences in ecological conditions will cause differences in the composition of lobster species. For the sake of lobster fisheries management in each region, it is necessary to specify indicator species on the spatial and temporal scale. This study aims to identify lobster species of the genus Panulirus in the FMARI 573 eastern part of Indonesian waters. Data retrieval is done by taking samples from lobster fishermen. Sampling locations include Kebumen, Trenggalek, Blitar, Lumajang, Jember, and Sumenep. The sampling time was carried out in August-September 2018. Data was analyzed descriptively by identifying morphologically and recording the number of individuals per species. Identification of samples is carried out at the study site and also in the laboratory. The study found six lobster species, namely: Panulirus ornatus (Udang mutiara), P. homarus (U. pasir), P. penicillatus (U. batu), P. versicolor (U. bambu), P. longipes (U. batik) and P. polyphagus (U. pakistan) with the type of sand most often found among the study sites. Further research needs to be done to look at the distribution and connectivity of lobster populations by analyzing species variation in each life phase (larvae / puerullus, juvenile, adult) at a certain space and time scale.