Odors influencing foraging behavior of the California spiny lobster,Panulirus interruptus, and other decapod crustacea

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Abstract
Trapping experiments were conducted in the More Mesa coastal area of Santa Barbara, California, 4 km east of the U.C. Santa Barbara campus. Live intact and injured prey and excised tissues were placed in traps, in containers allowing odor release but preventing contacts with entering animals. Individuals of six prey species failed to attract lobsters when alive and intact, but some became attractive once injured. Excised tissues were the most effective baits. Abalone and mackerel muscle were attractive to lobsters but relatively nonattractive to crabs, while angel shark muscle was attractive to crabs but not to lobsters. Shrimp cephalothoraces were repellent to lobsters. Naturally occurring attractant and repellent tissues are thus identified and chemo‐sensory abilities of lobsters and sympatric crabs are demonstrated to differ. Abalone muscle increased in attractivity following 1–2 days field exposure. Molecular weights of stimulants released by both weathered and fresh abalone were < 10,000 daltons with evidence suggesting that the 1000–10,000 dalton fraction may contribute significantly to attraction. Concentrations of total primary amines released from abalone muscle failed to differ from background levels, following an initial three (0–3 h) hour period. Primary amines thus appear not to contribute directly to captures of lobsters, since animals were usually caught ≥ 7 h after baits were positioned. Amino acids were the dominant contributors to present measurements of total primary amines, suggesting that these molecules may not direct lobster foraging behavior in the present experiments.