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Fishery Bulletin 100(1) 



third group is the same in both studies (22.5 and -25.0 

 mm CD. Comparison of the size threshold for transition 

 from the third to the fourth group is less appropriate be- 

 cause Lawton and LavaUi (1995) considered this thresh- 

 old to be determined by physiological maturity, which is a 

 temperature-dependent trait that varies among regions. 



Natural diet of shelter- restricted juveniles 



This first investigation of the diet of SRJ lobsters does 

 not support the view that these juveniles derive a substan- 



tial portion of their diet by suspension feeding and brows- 

 ing in their shelters, at least at our study site and during 

 the two years we sampled. With respect to suspension 

 feeding, there was no evidence of planktonic organisms in 

 stomachs, although some of the unidentified prey of the 

 crustacean meiofauna category may have been planktonic. 

 Foraminiferans, harpacticoids, ostracods, and macroalgal 

 debris represented food items that potentially could be 

 browsed within shelters. However, these taxa together 

 contributed relatively little to stomach volume of lobsters 

 in the 7-mm size class (0.14 for the combined categories. 



