Anti-Predator Behaviors of the Mediterranean Slipper Lobster, Scyllarides Latus

Mediterranean slipper lobsters were tethered inside and outside an artificial reef to test shelter-based protection against predation. Mortality was significantly lower among the lobsters in the reef (7%) compared to those in the open area (77%), indicating that sheltering is an effective protective strategy. All predation was found to occur during the daylight. Lobsters tethered in the open were observed to camouflage by placing themselves alongside rocks, thus enhancing the effectiveness of their cryptic coloration. When detected, lobsters tended to initially cling to the substrate. Gray triggerfish were observed to prey upon lobsters in the open, but were only able to kill a lobster after breaking its hold on the substrate, catching it as it tried to swim away, and biting through its ventral exoskeleton.