RECLUTAMIENTO DE JUVENILES DE LA LANGOSTA Panulirus argus CON REFUGIOS ARTIFICIALES EN EL CARIBE COLOMBIANO

Was valued the utility of the artificial shelters type casita as mechanism of monitoring of juvenile recruitment in Old Providence and Santa Catalina Islands. With a monthly sampling frequency, a total of 293 juvenile was caught between October 98 and September 99. Was established the first spatial and temporal estimation of the recruitment into the region. The highest catches were registered in May, February and August months, with a monthly average abundance of 11.6, 9.2 and 9 (lobster/casita), respectively. Further found it that index of abundance of the juvenile was variable between different sites. The emplacement of the shelters or casitas affected the catches into sampling zones, where there was high meanly differences between sites (P=0.0187). In the same period, not existed meanly statistic differences between monthly average abundance of juvenile and the interaction between month and sites. The sites that showed great number of organisms in the time of study were No. 3 (153), No. 5 (77) and No. 2 (54). A total of 168 lobsters were sexed according to external characters, which 98 were male and 70 females. We showed that catches of juvenile into artificial shelters were a success method to study the settlement levels and abundance of postlarvae phase into natural environmental. Was determinate that the recruitment of juvenile into Old Providence and Santa Catalina islands occur in may, august and february. For another hand, the temporal pattern of the number of juvenile into the casitas reflex the recruitment that take place in this structures and the stational change of the abundance into the region.