Lobster Aquaculture and Fisheries Science

Lobster aquaculture and fisheries science encompasses the biological, technological and ecological dimensions of both cultured and wild populations of high-value decapod crustaceans. In aquaculture, research spans broodstock management, hatchery protocols, larval rearing and grow-out systems, with particular attention to feed formulation, disease management and behaviour during ecdysis. Cannibalism at moulting remains a critical bottleneck, driving investigations into chemical communication and habitat complexity. Concurrently, fisheries science integrates population assessment, habitat mapping and ecosystem-based management to ensure sustainable harvests in the face of climate-driven range shifts and ocean warming. Physiological studies on metabolic performance and thermal tolerance inform stock distribution models, while emerging sensor technologies and sea-based container culture frameworks aim to optimise rearing success and reduce environmental impact. Together, these advances support improved productivity in culture, resilient wild fisheries and adaptive strategies for a changing marine environment.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have characterised chemical communication and behavioural drivers of cannibalism in juvenile tropical rock lobsters using a two-current choice flume, revealing stage- and social-relationship-dependent responses to moulting cues and suggesting pathways to mitigate ecdysis-related losses. In parallel, investigations of metabolic plasticity under current and projected warming scenarios demonstrate that resident and range-shifting spiny lobsters adjust standard metabolic rates to maintain aerobic scope, yet resident species exhibit reduced anaerobic escape capacity at elevated temperatures, highlighting indirect impacts of climate change on competitive interactions. Additionally, foundational work on thermal optima across life stages of co-occurring rock lobster species has uncovered species- and stage-specific differences in performance measures, underpinning predictive models of poleward distribution shifts in a warming ocean.

Lobster Aquaculture and Fisheries Science publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in lobster aquaculture and fisheries science across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ecdysis: The process of moulting in crustaceans, during which the old exoskeleton is shed and a new one is formed, critical for growth but associated with heightened vulnerability and cannibalism.

Aerobic scope: The difference between an organism’s standard metabolic rate and its maximum metabolic rate, indicating its capacity for oxygen-fueled activity under varying environmental conditions.

Metabolic plasticity: The ability of an organism to adjust its metabolic processes in response to temperature or other environmental changes, supporting resilience to stressors such as ocean warming.

Two-current choice flume: An experimental apparatus that creates two parallel water flows with different chemical cues, allowing observation of aquatic animals’ behavioural preferences in response to chemical signals.

References

1. Development of a two-current choice flume behavioural bioassay for juvenile Panulirus ornatus response to moulting cues. Scientific Reports (2022).
2. Metabolic plasticity improves lobster’s resilience to ocean warming but not to climate-driven novel species interactions. Scientific Reports (2022).
3. Mismatch of thermal optima between performance measures, life stages and species of spiny lobster. Scientific Reports (2020).
4. The Effect of Feed Frequency on Growth, Survival and Behaviour of Juvenile Spiny Lobster (Panulirus ornatus). Animals (2022).
5. Resident lobsters dominate food competition with range-shifting lobsters in an ocean warming hotspot. Marine Ecology Progress Series (2022).
6. Sensing Pre- and Post-Ecdysis of Tropical Rock Lobsters, Panulirus ornatus, Using a Low-Cost Novel Spectral Camera. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (2024).
7. Framework for evaluating external and internal parameters associated with Sea Based Container Culture (SBCC): Towards understanding rearing success in European lobsters (Homarus gammarus). Aquacultural Engineering (2018).