MOLT STAGGERING AND SERIAL MONOGAMY IN AMERICAN LOBSTERS, HOMARUS-AMERICANUS

A mating system of serial monogamy is described for the American lobster, based on observations in large naturalistic aquaria. All except one of the receptive females staggered the timing of their moults at intervals throughout the summer so that each moulted and subsequently mated inside the shelter of a dominant male. In one experiment where there was no clear male dominance, the females moved back and forth from one male shelter to the other before 50% mated with one male and 50% with the other. Cohabitations lasted from 1 to 3 weeks and included periods of both pre- and postmoult shelter sharing. Moult staggering implies behavioural control over the female moult cycle. © 1990 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.