Biological Features of Mud Spiny Lobster, Panulirus polyphagus (Herbst, 1793) from Johor Coastal Water of Malaysia

Biological features of size at maturity, size distribution, carapace length (CL) - body weight (BW) relationship and sex ratio were studied from 300 lobsters (231 males and 69 females) ranging from 4.72 - 11.34 cm CL sampled from Johor coastal water of Malaysia from July to December 2010. The results indicate that the lobster can attain sexual maturity (CL ) at 6.02 cm CL for male and 6.59 cm CL for female. Size distribution was 50 found to be abundance at range of 4.72 - 11.34 cm CL for male and 5.32 - 11.98 cm CL for female. The mean CW and BW of male P. polyphagus are 7.51 cm ± 1.42 and 189.75 g ± 124.05respectively, while mean CW and BW for female lobster were 7.39 cm ± 1.83 and 186.98 ± 121.49 respectively. The CL-BW relationship for males was attained as BW = 4.4592e (R = 0.8908) and for females was estimated as BW = 12.438e (R = 0.949). 0.4681CL 2 0.3404CL 2 Finally, the overall sex ratio was identified as 1:0.3. The data obtained from this study can be used as baseline data which is helpful in aquaculture field and fisheries management hence helps to ensure the population sustainability of the species.