Mysid swarms at benthic coral reef sites disperse into the water column in
the evening and reform at the exact same location the following morning, po
ssibly reflecting homing behavior of individual mysids. To facilitate track
ing of individual mysids, we radiolabeled part of a swarm of Mysidium graci
le with the gamma-emitting radioisotope Zn-65 and released the labeled anim
als back to the focal swarm on a reef in Discovery Bay, Jamaica. We collect
ed the focal swarm and surrounding swarms the next morning to determine the
location of the labeled individuals following nighttime dispersal. Seventy
-seven percent of the radiolabeled mysids returned to the same site the nex
t day, and 13% of the labeled individuals were recovered from other nearby
swarms. This recovery rate cannot be attributed to random reaggregation and
suggests that mysids use a homing behavior to facilitate swarm reformation
. This is the first unequivocal evidence of homing behavior in demersal zoo
plankton.