Growth, dispersal, and identification of planktonic labrid and pomacentrid reef-fish larvae in the eastern Pacific Ocean
✍ Scribed by B. C. Victor
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1987
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 884 KB
- Volume
- 95
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0025-3162
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Planktonic larvae of six genera of labrld and pomacentrld reef fishes were captured in March 1985 in the eastern Pacific Ocean several hundred kilometers from the nearest reefs The larvae were identified to genus by fin-ray counts as well as by comparison of their larval otolith morphology with that of known species. The larval otolith morphologies of known species were derived from measurements of the larval otolith embedded within the otoliths of settled juveniles (as delineated by the daffy otolith-ancrement marks corresponding to the late larval period) The body morphology and melanophore patterns of the eastern Pacific labrid and pomacentnd larvae closely matched those of congeneric larvae described from other oceans. Growth rates of larvae less than about 70 d old were similar between taxi (from 0 13 to 0.19 mm d-~). After about 70 d an the plankton, labrid larvae grew much more slowly (0.06 mmd -1 in Xyrichtys sp.) Labrld larvae had long larval durations (up to 131 d in Xynchtys sp ), while the larval lives of the pomacentrids appeared to be shorter and much less variable. Larvae of many different ages occurred within the same water mass, and young cohorts of larvae appeared continuously over the sampling period. Some larvae were as young as 21 d, indicating that reef-fish larvae are capable of rapid long-distance dispersal (at least 18 km d-l).