Occurrence of Panulirus inflatus (Decapoda: Palinuridae) pueruli in the southeastern Gulf of California, Mexico)

This study presents results on the collection of Panulirus inflatus pueruli in seaweed (GuSi; set at the surface) and crevice (Booth: set on the bottom) collectors from April to December 1998 in waters of the southeastern Gulf of California, Mexico. The collectors were deployed at two sites in Mazatlán Bay. A total of 15 pueruli and 26 post-pueruli were collected, of which 4 postpueruli were found in crevice collectors from 10 inspections. Examination of the crevice collectors was difficult because weather conditions made sampling problematic during the year in this zone. Seaweed collectors caught 37 pueruli in 91 observations. Most of the pueruli from these collectors were caught between April and June, with a peak settlement in May (19) and a mean surface water temperature of 24.4°C. The highest catch per unit of effort was 1.36 pueruli per collector per week in May, followed by April (0.33) and June (0.31). Statistical tests showed no significant differences among the moon phases, although the number of pueruli was higher during the first quarter. This is the first record of P. inflatus pueruli in the southeastern Gulf of California on specifically designed collectors.