Abstract
AbstractTo estimate the growth of the hard‐to‐age Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus in the southeastern USA, a double‐maximum‐likelihood‐estimation method (referred to as the “likelihood model”) has been applied to the mark–recapture data collected in the Florida Keys from 1967 to 2003. Parameters related to the intermolt period and the growth increment have been assessed, and the uncertainty of the parameters has been estimated using the bootstrap resampling method. For better comparison with the previously published step‐wise growth models, an individual‐based model, in which the variance and covariance of model parameters were fully considered, has been developed to simulate growth transition matrices. The simulation results were compared directly by using the Frobenius Norm. The results indicated that the likelihood model produces a more conservative growth estimate with lower uncertainty. However, the likelihood weights should be set with caution. This study can improve our understanding of the growth of the Caribbean spiny lobster. The products can be directly used in the future for integrated size‐structured, stock assessment models for Caribbean spiny lobster; the methods can be easily adaptable to other crustacean species.
Highlights
ZHANG AND YAO changes as a result of the molting process; otherwise, it remains unchanged during the intermolt period
The median intermolt period was roughly estimated according to the cumulative percentage of molted individuals against the days-free, and an exponential function was used to explore the relationship between the median intermolt periods and the median size of those bins (Munro 1974)
Using the likelihood model, both the intermolt period and the logarithm of the growth increment could be estimated as functions of the tagging length
Summary
ZHANG AND YAO changes as a result of the molting process; otherwise, it remains unchanged during the intermolt period. The probability that an individual lobster molts in a given month was linked to a logit function of its CL at tagging time and days-free, as well as zone (using Big Pine Key as the boundary between the upper and lower Florida Keys, hereafter Keys), season (summer from May to October or winter from November to the April), and sex (female or male). The results of the newly developed method were compared with those derived from previously published step-wise growth models that had been applied to describe the growth of Caribbean spiny lobster, such as in Muller et al (1997) and Ehrhardt (2008). This study could promote our understanding of the growth of the Caribbean spiny lobster and will be adaptable to other crustacean species
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