LARVAL SUPPLY AND SHORT-TERM RECRUITMENT OF A TEMPERATE ZONE DEMERSALFISH, THE KING-GEORGE WHITING, SILLAGINODES-PUNCTATA CUVIER AND VALENCIENNES, TO AN EMBAYMENT IN SOUTH-EASTERN AUSTRALIA

From late August to December, 1994, pre-settlement larvae and post-set tlement recruits of the King George whiting, Sillaginodes punctata, we re sampled approximately daily from Swan Bay, a small bay that is adja cent to Port Phillip Bay, southern Australia. The period of larval sup ply to Swan Bay extended from late August until late November. Larval abundance showed strong temporal variability. The temporal pattern of larval abundance was similar at 2 sites separated by 1-2 km, although larvae were more abundant nearer to the entrance into Swan Bay. The te mporal pattern of larval abundance was compared with the pattern of ab undance of recent settlers, estimated from the size structure of recru its sampled at 2 to 3 day intervals. The daily pattern of larval abund ance was also compared with the daily pattern of formation of transiti ons in otolith microstructure of short-term recruits (less than about 1 month post-settlement) sampled at 10 day intervals. We found signifi cant positive correlations between the pattern of larval abundance and both the pattern of abundance of recently settled individuals and the pattern of transition formation in the otoliths of recruits. In the l atter case, larval abundance lagged otolith transitions by about 1 day , suggesting that the otolith transition was formed at around the time when larvae entered Port Phillip Bay. The correlations suggest that t emporal variability in the supply of S. punctata larvae was an importa nt factor influencing variability in short-term recruitment of this sp ecies to Swan Bay. The correlations, although significant (P < 0.05), were not high, and the possible influences of post-settlement processe s and sampling methodology on the strength of these correlations are d iscussed.