ROLE OF MANGROVE HABITAT AS A NURSERY FOR JUVENILE SPINY LOBSTER, PANULIRUS-ARGUS, IN BELIZE

The use of mangrove prop roots and associated coralline habitats by Ca ribbean spiny lobsters was investigated near two types of mangrove isl ands in Belize. Spiny lobsters sheltered among mangrove prop roots, in undercut peat banks and under corals near islands, and they ranged in size from newly recruited juveniles to subadults. Lobsters preferred to shelter under large stony corals, but their use of mangrove prop ro ots nd undercut peat banks increased when the density of corals was lo w. Den residence time and distance moved within a site were similar at islands isolated by deep water channels and islands separated by shal low seagrass beds, but as a consequence of high immigration rates, pop ulation sizes were highest near shallow islands. Predation on newly se ttled juveniles was greater in seagrass and coral crevices than in man grove prop roots, whereas the survival of larger juveniles was higher in mangroves and coral patch reefs than in seagrass. These results sug gest that mangrove habitats may function as a nursery for juvenile spi ny lobsters but that the use of this habitat depends on shelter charac teristics and the isolation of islands.