Predicting hatch of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) in the southwest Bay of Fundy: how to model late spring embryo development

Abstract

Hatch timing of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) is important for the seasonal events larvae will experience post hatch. The hatch of lobster embryos occurs outside fishing seasons and hence cannot readily be monitored by observing the clutch of ovigerous females caught by fishers. An alternative approach to predicting hatch is using temperature to model embryonic development until predicted hatch. This study modelled embryonic development and predicted hatch using 3 different temperature scenarios (female, environment, and static) and investigated the thermoregulatory behaviour of ovigerous females in relation to hatch. Using static temperature was found to not be useful to model development and environmental temperature can be used to model embryonic development until evidence is found to show its inappropriate. Females were not found to thermoregulate to time the hatch of their embryos. Overall, further research should be done to see if environmental temperature can accurately predict hatch.