What’s the secret surprising power of lobster pee? It can protect Florida’s coral reefs
Claire Grunewald
Wed, June 12, 2024
South Florida loves its spiny lobsters, meaning loves to catch and eat them. But there’s another lesser-known lobster species whose value extends beyond the dinner plate.
The spotted lobster doesn’t just live on coral reefs, it also protects them – including in one peculiar way. Spotted lobster pee appears to act like a repellent to coral predators, creating what a new study by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes as “a landscape of fear.”
That surprising finding (who even knew that lobster pee?) is just one of several fascinating facts from FWC studies about the role that lobster play in the marine food chain and in South Florida’s struggling reef system. Researchers also documented lobster foraging on coral-damaging fireworms and — for the first time — observed spiny lobster eating a fish. In this case, it happened to be an invasive lionfish that the state is trying to stop from overrunning reefs.
The findings could help shape efforts to save and restore the South Florida reef tract, which has lost an estimated 90 percent of its hard corals over the last 40 years – devastating damage caused by ocean temperatures driven higher by climate change, a string of coral-killing diseases, pollution, boat anchors and a number of other factors.
“There’s so much effort going into coral reefs right now trying to safeguard them and restore them as well as you can,” said Casey Butler, the FWC’s spiny lobster research program lead. “But is there a way to let you know the biology of the system works in your favor, so you don’t have to do as much work?”
Mini-season targets
Lobsters are an important part of the Florida commercial seafood industry and the annual frenzy of mini-season for recreational divers packs boat ramps in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and fills hotel rooms in the Florida Keys.
The primary target is the Caribbean spiny lobster, a species that migrates as it grows, moving from shallow nearshore seagrass beds out to shallow reefs, then deeper waters that provide shelter and food. But the FWC studies focused more on the spotted lobster, which appear do the heaviest lifting when it comes to protecting reefs.
They actually start life on coral reefs and stay there, playing that coral-protecting role as part of a healthy reef ecosystem. There are no season limits or regulations protecting spotted lobsters, aside from releasing egg-bearing females, but they face little fishing pressure and are only occasionally caught in traps or by divers.
“The spotted spiny lobsters are sort of the knights in spiny armor, if you will. They’re cryptic, but nobody fishes for them,” Butler said. “So we don’t have to worry about people really going for them and saying, ‘Oh, you can’t fish for lobsters anymore because of the coral reef.’ No, that’s not what we’re saying.”
Natural repellent
There are a couple of ways they do their work. One recent study suggests a previously unknown power of lobster pee as a predator repellent. Lobsters urinate frequently and lab tests, Butler said, show coral-eating snails don’t like seawater with lobster pee in and tend to avoid areas where the lobsters inhabit. While both spiny and spotted lobster produce prodigious volumes of pee, it’s the spotted lobster that seem to have the most powerful natural deterrents, particularly when including its dining habits. They tend to target more coral predators.
The spotted lobster, on the left, isn’t a regular commercial or recreational target in Florida. But new studies by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggest it’s important to protecting declining corals on Florida’s reef tract.
Based on these studies, Butler believes that simply protecting spotted lobsters on a reef might be a more beneficial preservation step than trying to remove snails or fireworms that eat coral.
Last summer, Florida coral reefs experienced the deadliest bleaching event in history, mainly from record hot water temperatures. And the numbers aren’t better this summer.
That historic heat also unintentionally provided a new variable for the state’s lobster studies. Butler and scientists found that lobsters at healthier reefs ate damaging predators like fireworms. But as reefs decline, along with food options, spotted lobster can turn to eating herbivores that protect corals instead, leaving the damaged reef even more vulnerable.
“Think about it like if you wanted to go out and you said, ‘Tonight, I really want to go eat scallops and crab legs or something,’ and that’s what you wanted, but instead, you ended up at the Golden Corral and had had to just sort of achieve what was available,” Butler said. “I think that’s sort of what’s happening as we go from less degraded to a more degraded system as a result of our changing quality.”
Butler said the FWC hopes to eventually publish its findings in scientific journals.
The study on the spotted lobster’s appetite was funded by the Fish and Wildlife Foundation with a $37,000 grant to FWC.
Michelle Ashton, FWF director of communications and events, said funding backing the work was a “no brainer.” She said it was important to understand what happens when a reef is stressed and the cascading ripple effects on the food web.
“To pinpoint one part of that ripple is fascinating,” Ashton said.
Claire Grunewald
Wed, June 12, 2024
South Florida loves its spiny lobsters, meaning loves to catch and eat them. But there’s another lesser-known lobster species whose value extends beyond the dinner plate.
The spotted lobster doesn’t just live on coral reefs, it also protects them – including in one peculiar way. Spotted lobster pee appears to act like a repellent to coral predators, creating what a new study by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes as “a landscape of fear.”
That surprising finding (who even knew that lobster pee?) is just one of several fascinating facts from FWC studies about the role that lobster play in the marine food chain and in South Florida’s struggling reef system. Researchers also documented lobster foraging on coral-damaging fireworms and — for the first time — observed spiny lobster eating a fish. In this case, it happened to be an invasive lionfish that the state is trying to stop from overrunning reefs.
The findings could help shape efforts to save and restore the South Florida reef tract, which has lost an estimated 90 percent of its hard corals over the last 40 years – devastating damage caused by ocean temperatures driven higher by climate change, a string of coral-killing diseases, pollution, boat anchors and a number of other factors.
“There’s so much effort going into coral reefs right now trying to safeguard them and restore them as well as you can,” said Casey Butler, the FWC’s spiny lobster research program lead. “But is there a way to let you know the biology of the system works in your favor, so you don’t have to do as much work?”
Mini-season targets
Lobsters are an important part of the Florida commercial seafood industry and the annual frenzy of mini-season for recreational divers packs boat ramps in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and fills hotel rooms in the Florida Keys.
The primary target is the Caribbean spiny lobster, a species that migrates as it grows, moving from shallow nearshore seagrass beds out to shallow reefs, then deeper waters that provide shelter and food. But the FWC studies focused more on the spotted lobster, which appear do the heaviest lifting when it comes to protecting reefs.
They actually start life on coral reefs and stay there, playing that coral-protecting role as part of a healthy reef ecosystem. There are no season limits or regulations protecting spotted lobsters, aside from releasing egg-bearing females, but they face little fishing pressure and are only occasionally caught in traps or by divers.
“The spotted spiny lobsters are sort of the knights in spiny armor, if you will. They’re cryptic, but nobody fishes for them,” Butler said. “So we don’t have to worry about people really going for them and saying, ‘Oh, you can’t fish for lobsters anymore because of the coral reef.’ No, that’s not what we’re saying.”
Natural repellent
There are a couple of ways they do their work. One recent study suggests a previously unknown power of lobster pee as a predator repellent. Lobsters urinate frequently and lab tests, Butler said, show coral-eating snails don’t like seawater with lobster pee in and tend to avoid areas where the lobsters inhabit. While both spiny and spotted lobster produce prodigious volumes of pee, it’s the spotted lobster that seem to have the most powerful natural deterrents, particularly when including its dining habits. They tend to target more coral predators.
The spotted lobster, on the left, isn’t a regular commercial or recreational target in Florida. But new studies by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggest it’s important to protecting declining corals on Florida’s reef tract.
Based on these studies, Butler believes that simply protecting spotted lobsters on a reef might be a more beneficial preservation step than trying to remove snails or fireworms that eat coral.
Last summer, Florida coral reefs experienced the deadliest bleaching event in history, mainly from record hot water temperatures. And the numbers aren’t better this summer.
That historic heat also unintentionally provided a new variable for the state’s lobster studies. Butler and scientists found that lobsters at healthier reefs ate damaging predators like fireworms. But as reefs decline, along with food options, spotted lobster can turn to eating herbivores that protect corals instead, leaving the damaged reef even more vulnerable.
“Think about it like if you wanted to go out and you said, ‘Tonight, I really want to go eat scallops and crab legs or something,’ and that’s what you wanted, but instead, you ended up at the Golden Corral and had had to just sort of achieve what was available,” Butler said. “I think that’s sort of what’s happening as we go from less degraded to a more degraded system as a result of our changing quality.”
Butler said the FWC hopes to eventually publish its findings in scientific journals.
The study on the spotted lobster’s appetite was funded by the Fish and Wildlife Foundation with a $37,000 grant to FWC.
Michelle Ashton, FWF director of communications and events, said funding backing the work was a “no brainer.” She said it was important to understand what happens when a reef is stressed and the cascading ripple effects on the food web.
“To pinpoint one part of that ripple is fascinating,” Ashton said.
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