Posted by Chris on January 10, 2002 at 13:21:57:
In Reply to: Are Crusties Transients?? posted by tommy7 on January 10, 2002 at 11:57:07:
My impression is that in some areas they move quite a bit, and in others they do not.
There is an artificial reef near my house that in the summer is packed with lobster, but in the winter is always empty.
There are other areas I have been to regularly at Catalina and other islands that are sometimes full of bugs, and other times no one is home.
In this area they move quite a bit.
However there is an area at Santa Cruz Island where I believe the bugs are long term residents, because when they flee they cover long distances (10 to 50 yards) to go directly to the deepest holes.
In most areas when bugs flee they usually just go to some nearby cover, which is not necessarily optimal.
I do not know of any studies on California Spiny Lobster that answer your question, but I would be very interested to find out if there was.