Movement patterns of the West Coast rock lobster, Jasus lalandii (okładka  miękka)

Since the early 1990s the commercial catch of rock lobster on the West Coast of South Africa has progressively decreased with a concomitant influx of lobsters into an area not previously associated with dense lobster populations, east of Cape Hangklip. It has been hypothesized that the major shift in rock lobsters eastwards could be as a result of large-scale, longshore migrations. This study aimed to investigate the movement patterns of the South African West Coast rock lobster, Jasus lalandii, using a variety of techniques. These were (1) examining long-term data from an ongoing tag- recapture program, (2) observations on rock lobsters in a mesocosm aquarium, (3) monitoring the seasonal fluxes in activities and abundance of rock lobsters in the field, (4) video recordings of movement behaviour in aquaria and (5) acoustically tracking the movements of individual rock lobsters. The results of this study contribute towards understanding the movement behaviour of rock lobsters in this region and provide important scientific information about this valuable resource.