Sr. Thorrold et al., LARVAL SUPPLY OF SHOREFISHES TO NURSERY HABITATS AROUND LEE-STOCKING ISLAND, BAHAMAS .1. SMALL-SCALE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS, Marine Biology, 118(4), 1994, pp. 555-566
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.