Spatial variability of planktonic invertebrate larvae in the Canary Islands area

9 páginas, 6 figuras, 1 tablaIn October 1991, invertebrate larvae abundances were analysed to study the influence of the disturbance of the Canary\udCurrent flow by the Canary Islands archipelago on the variability of larval distribution. Two transects and two time-series\udstations located to the north (non-perturbed zone) and the south (perturbed zone) of the Canary Islands were sampled.\udOceanographical data showed a highly stratified water column and zonally uniform salinity and temperature seaward of\udthe African upwelling in the non-perturbed zone, while the perturbed zone presented strong turbulence in the form of mesoscale\udeddies. Invertebrate larval abundances were lower for most taxa studied in the non-perturbed zone and northern timeseries\udstation. Significant differences (P , 0.001) of invertebrate larval abundance between the two zones sampled were\udfound. Decapod larvae were the most abundant larval group in both zones. Stations located in eddy structures presented\udthe highest values of larval densities. Specifically, the larvae collected at Station 18, located in the core of an anticyclonic\udeddy, represented 60+18% of total larvae collected in the south transect. Finally, our results suggest that eddies, mainly\udanticyclonic eddies, act as a strong larval retention zone south of the islands, and that there is a local northward transport\udfrom the Canary IslandsThis work was partially funded by the proyects ConAfrica (CTM2004-02319) and LUCIFER (CTM2008-03538) from the Spanish Ministry, the European Union. J.M.L. has been supported by FPI fellow (BES-2005-10960) from the European Social FundPeer reviewe