While egg-bearing (ovigerous) American lobsters are found in estuaries, it is not known if they are present when their eggs hatch. The major goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that a portion of the larvae that serve as new recruits to the Great Bay Estuary lobster population originate from females that are year-around residents. First, a total of nine ovigerous lobsters were fitted with acoustic transmitters and tracked from October through the following spring-to-early summer. We found that all lobsters overwintered in the estuary and were located again within 1 km of their fall positions the following May–June, when their eggs likely hatched. Second, sea sampling surveys carried out in the spring revealed that ovigerous lobsters in the estuary were carrying more developed eggs than their coastal counterparts. Third, through a series of laboratory-based studies, we calculated the putative hatch dates of egg clutches carried by estuarine and coastal lobsters and show that estuarine lobster eggs likely hatch 2–3 weeks earlier than eggs carried by coastal females. Finally, plankton tow surveys in the estuary revealed that stage I larval lobsters (zoeae) were present in the estuary from May to July, which encompasses the predicted hatching period for both estuarine and coastal eggs. Therefore, new recruits to the Great Bay Estuary lobster population likely come from both resident estuarine lobsters and coastal females.

虽然在河口发现有卵的（盛产的）美国龙虾，但尚不清楚卵孵化时是否存在它们。这项研究的主要目的是检验以下假设：作为大湾河口龙虾种群新成员的幼体中有一部分是来自常年居住的雌性。首先，从10月到次年春季至初夏，总共对9个有卵龙虾进行了声发射器的跟踪。我们发现，所有龙虾在河口都越冬，并在接下来的5月至6月，它们的卵可能会孵化，再次位于其坠落位置的1公里以内。其次，春季进行的海面抽样调查显示，河口的龙虾比沿海沿海的龙虾携带的卵更加发达。第三，通过一系列基于实验室的研究，我们计算了河口和沿海龙虾携带的卵形卵的推定孵化日期，并表明河口龙虾卵的孵化时间比沿海雌性卵携带的卵早2-3周。最后，河口的浮游生物拖曳调查显示，从五月到七月，河口中存在第一阶段幼虫龙虾（zoeae），其中包括河口卵和沿海卵的预计孵化期。因此，大湾口龙虾种群的新兵可能来自河口常驻龙虾和沿海雌性。河口的浮游生物拖曳调查显示，从五月到七月，河口存在第一阶段幼虫龙虾（zoeae），其中包括河口卵和沿海卵的预计孵化期。因此，大湾口龙虾种群的新兵可能来自河口常驻龙虾和沿海雌性。河口的浮游生物拖曳调查显示，从五月到七月，河口存在第一阶段幼虫龙虾（zoeae），其中包括河口卵和沿海卵的预计孵化期。因此，大湾口龙虾种群的新兵可能来自河口常驻龙虾和沿海雌性。