MOLT FREQUENCY AND SIZE-CLASS DISTRIBUTION IN THE CALIFORNIA SPINY LOBSTER (PANULIRUS-INTERRUPTUS) AS INDICATED BY BEACH-CAST CARAPACES AT SAN NICOLAS ISLAND, CALIFORNIA

Adult California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) are described a s molting once or more than once annually. We measured 815 beach-cast spiny lobster carapaces found along a 1.3-km section of San Nicolas Is land, California, in 1988 and 1989. Of these, 759 (93%) were found dur ing the months of August, September, and October, suggesting a single annual molt for adult animals. The average size of a beach-cast carapa ce was 79 mm carapace length (CL), compared with an average size of 92 .1 mm CL for 1000 animals captured live in the same area.