Planktonic Growth of Larval Lobster (Homarus americanus) off îles de la Madeleine (Quebec), Gulf of St. Lawrence

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Abstract
The carapace length of the three planktonic larval and one postlarval stages of Homarus americanus was measured for larvae collected off îles de la Madeleine over three summers. Mean larval size did not vary between years or locations around the islands. The size of stages I and II remained constant throughout the summer, but after molting into stages III and IV, larvae diminished in size through the summer. Size frequency distribution became more scattered as larvae grew into more advanced stages. The increase of variance with size between stages I–IV followed the same progression as that observed between stages V–XIII, allowing prediction of the variance associated with mean size at each stage. The size of stage I larvae collected in nine regions along the Atlantic coast was not correlated with the July surface water temperature or with the smallest female size at maturity. Comparison of various body proportions suggested that a single morphometric measurement is not sufficient to describe geographical variations in size. Percentage growth per molt decreased with each successive molt. During summer, increment at molt decreased and molt frequency increased. Larval growth rates followed closely the temperature regime, with maximum growth rate attained during the warmest period of the summer (July 30 – August 9). The duration of the first three larval stages estimated from field data was of 24 d compared with 21 d calculated from previous laboratory studies. The maximum abundance of stage I larvae was synchronized with the period of most rapid increase in summer temperature, thus insuring that larvae achieved highest net growth rates through their planktonic phase.

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