Juvenile Nephrops caught in the Irish Sea

Abstract

DIVING teams studying Nephrops norvegicus in Loch Torridon and the Sound of Jura have commented on the absence of small individuals with carapace lengths of less than 30 mm^1,2. Elsewhere in trawl samples, the shortest carapace is usually about 20 mm long^3–5, although recent Irish and French research samples have found shorter, down to about 13 mm^6–8. Extremely few post-larval or juvenile Nephrops smaller than this have been recorded; the wild-caught total summarized by Andersen⁹ and O'Riordan¹⁰ seems to be twelve, with an additional thirty-three taken from stomachs of Raia clavata⁹.