A note on a possible influence of traps on assessment of the diet of Jasus lalandii (H. Milne-Edwards)

Dietary analyses are important components of ecological studies. However, some methods of collecting organisms may expose them to exceptionally high densities of prey items, leading to inaccurate dietary assessments. These methods include the use of baited traps. We hypothesised that such a "trap effect" occurred during work on the diet of the rock lobster Jasus lalandii, because baited traps attracted isopods, which were then eaten opportunistically by trapped J. lalandii. To test this hypothesis, rock lobsters were collected at two sites using both baited-traps and Scuba diving. Results showed that large numbers of isopods were attracted to, and consumed, the trap-bait. Analyses of the stomach contents of trap-caught J. lalandii from both localities reflected a larger occurrence and significantly greater abundance of isopods in stomach samples from trap- rather than Scuba-caught rock lobsters. For probably similar reasons, small fish were significantly over-represented in the gut contents of trap-caught rock lobsters, although the evidence is less clear-cut and there may be other explanations for the high proportions of fish in the diet. Although isopods and fish may be naturally consumed at a low rate, predation on them is greatly inflated in traps, and the dietary analyses of trap-caught J. lalandii. All assessments of the diets of animals traditionally caught with traps should consider and account for such "trap effects", by calibrating the data for trap-caught animals against an alternative sampling method.