Developing hatchery technology for spiny lobsters has promoted interest in the establishment of a commercial land-based lobster aquaculture industry in Australia. Cannibalism in culture is extensive with cannibalistic interactions occurring during a relatively brief vulnerability while moulting. Therefore, pre-ecdysis characterisation is indicated as an opportunity to disrupt cannibalism. Detecting pre-ecdysis with a sensor would open the scope of research into cannibalism reducing culture environments. During this study, three markers that have the potential to indicate ecdysis are assessed. The markers that were assessed during this study are growth of the new integument, formation of suture lines and pigment changes, these markers were assessed using high frequency imaging ultrasound, computer vision, and digital image analysis in the HSV colour space, respectively.

For individual animals, carotenoid pigment shift is an early and clear marker of pre-ecdysis, however variability between individuals excludes pigmentation being useful in characterising pre-ecdysis. Suture line clarity was problematic under visible light because its clarity was reduced by similarly coloured pigments, therefore using suture lines as a pre-ecdysis characteriser requires better clarity. Imaging the suture line with light outside the visible spectrum is a logical research pathway to test for improved suture line clarity. Growth of the new integument was visible on sonographs beneath the branchiostegites indicating that ultrasound may be a useful tool for sensing pre-ecdysis in lobsters. Ultrasonic investigation using a single element transducer may be a lower cost and robust sensing solution to detect new integument growth and is high priority future research pathway.

开发多刺龙虾孵化技术提高了人们对在澳大利亚建立商业陆基龙虾水产养殖业的兴趣。文化中的同类相食是广泛存在的，在换羽期间相对短暂的脆弱期会发生同类相食的相互作用。因此，蜕皮前的表征被认为是破坏自相残杀的机会。用传感器检测蜕皮前期将打开减少同类相食的文化环境的研究范围。在这项研究中，评估了三种可能指示蜕皮的标记物。在这项研究中评估的标记是新体表层的生长、缝合线的形成和色素变化，这些标记是使用高频成像超声、计算机视觉、

对于个别动物，类胡萝卜素色素转移是蜕皮前期的早期和明确标志，但个体之间的差异排除了色素沉着可用于表征蜕皮前期。缝合线清晰度在可见光下存在问题，因为类似颜色的颜料会降低其清晰度，因此使用缝合线作为蜕皮前特征需要更好的清晰度。用可见光谱以外的光对缝合线进行成像是测试缝合线清晰度提高的合乎逻辑的研究途径。新体表层的生长在鳃盖骨下方的超声波检查仪上可见，表明超声波可能是检测龙虾蜕皮前期的有用工具。