Biological tags as moult indicators in Panulirus cygnus (George)

Laboratory and field trials were employed to examine the feasibility of using biological tags as moult indicators. Twenty-four animals were tagged with epidermal implants and held in aquaria for 2 years and 8 months before the tags were removed. Five tags failed to form useful cysts and one tag was damaged during processing. The remaining 18 lobsters moulted between three and six times, with this moulting record being accurately verified by 15 of the biological tags and incorrectly interpreted (by one moult) in one case. Two tags produced inconclusive results. Biological tags were tested in the field in the Fremantle area, with 132 animals being recaptured out of 1336 tagged. Eleven tags proved impossible to read, eight failed to form cysts, and the balance recorded up to six moults during the release period. Animals in the size range 60–80 mm carapace length (CL) recorded two moults per year, one in February–April and a second before the mid-November start to the fishing season. Females grew significantly less per moult than did males in the same size category (60–85 mm CL), and both sexes showed significantly smaller increments for animals ≥85 mm CL at release.