Premium
Vertical and horizontal distributions of coral‐reef fish larvae in open water immediately prior to reef colonization
Author(s) -
Lecchini D.,
Waqalevu V. P.,
Holles S.,
Lerohellec M.,
Brie C.,
Simpson S. D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/jfb.12136
Subject(s) - reef , pelagic zone , fringing reef , coral reef , coral reef fish , biology , fishery , oceanography , crest , geology , physics , quantum mechanics
To explore the vertical and horizontal distributions of fish larvae near the end of their pelagic period, six light traps were set up over four lunar months at different depths (sub‐surface, midwater and bottom) and different habitat types (reef slope: 50 m horizontal distance from the reef crest; frontier zone: 110 m horizontal distance; sandy zone: 200 m horizontal distance) on the outer reef slope of Moorea Island, French Polynesia. The highest captures were in sub‐surface traps on the reef slope and the frontier zone, and in bottom traps on the sandy zone and the frontier zone. It is hypothesized that fish larvae move towards the surface near the reef slope to avoid reef‐based planktivores and to get into a favourable position for surfing over the reef crest.