TAG RETENTION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SLIPPER LOBSTER

Mediterranean slipper lobsters, Scyllarides latus, were tagged using 3 types of 'spaghetti' tags. Each lobster was tagged at 2 points on its dorsal surface: between the carapace and the abdomen and between the third and fourth abdominal segments. The survival, molting, and tag re tention of these lobsters was monitored for 16 months. Overall tag ret ention was significantly higher among lobsters tagged with anchor tags that had conical tips compared to those tagged with regular anchor ta gs. 86.7% of lobsters tagged with conical-tipped tags molted and only 20% died, while of the lobsters tagged with regular tags only 33.3% mo lted and 40% died. After molting, lobsters in both groups tended to ke ep more tags in the posterior position than in the anterior position.