LARVAL SUPPLY OF SHOREFISHES TO NURSERY HABITATS AROUND LEE-STOCKING ISLAND, BAHAMAS .1. SMALL-SCALE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS

Plankton nets moored in tidal channels around Lee Stocking Island, Bah amas, were used to monitor larval supply from Exuma Sound to benthic h abitats on Great Bahama Bank in the winter months (December-February) of 1990-1991 and 1991-1992. A total of 10376 fishes were collected in 1990-1991 from 58 taxa; in 1991-1992, 13 358 fishes were collected fro m 56 taxa. Vertical distributions of 16 dominant taxa suggested that m ost settlement-stage fishes were concentrated in surface waters. Six t axa showed no year x depth interaction; of these, five were significan tly more abundant in the surface nets. Eight of the ten taxa with sign ificant year x depth interactions displayed a tendency to be more abun dant in surface layers than in sub-surface collections during the firs t year, but were more evenly distributed across surface and sub-surfac e collections in the second year of sampling. Larval supply of six tax a showed significant coherency over spatial scales from 0.5 to 1.5 km. Over scales up to 5 km, however, larval supply became largely decoupl ed at the daily level. Significant inter-annual variability in the ver tical and horizontal distributions of settlement-stage fishes suggests that behavior may play a major role in determining larval supply in t ropical shorefishes.