An uncommon guest is masked in fisheries landings: The case of the endemic sub-population of red spiny lobster Panulirus penicillatus (Decapoda: Palinuridae) in Costa Rica
Abstract Fishery landings composition in tropical developing countries is formed of high diversity of species and some of them are not well-reported in landings or national fisheries statistics. This is particularly the case of the endemic red spiny lobster Panulirus penicillatus (Olivier, 1791) on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The red spiny lobster is a circumtropical species which has the most extensive global distribution of all the species of spiny lobsters. In order to fill the gap of knowledge regarding the spatial distribution of this species in the eastern Pacific Ocean and highlight its importance to fishing communities, this study focused on data collected from a dive-based bentho-demersal fishery on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Environmental and fishing effort data were recorded as an input for fitting site-occupancy models to get estimates of occurrence and probability of detection. The most parsimonious model structure for detection suggested that the covariates of diving time and water column visibility had an important effect on detection probability. For the occupancy part of the model, the depth gradient had the strongest effect, with high probability of lobster encounters in shallow rocky reefs near the coastline. These findings point towards an enlargement of the area of occurrence of the endemic sub-population of P. penicillatus to which sampled animals belong. Further, it is discussed potential ecological and fishery factors that explain the low occurrence of the red spiny lobster at this restricted area of the eastern Pacific continental shelf. As a result, a set of research guidelines and management recommendations are suggested for promoting the conservation and sustainable use of this endemic species within the region.