Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Funding

Recorded critical swimming speed of larval Amphiprion percula, Elacatinus lori, and Elacatinus colini measured throughout development from hatching through settlement. Studies performed at Boston University, USA and the International Zoological Expeditions Field Station on South Water Caye, Belize (16o 48’ 92” N, 88o 04’ 89” W).

To determine the effect of fish age on the swimming speed of larvae from hatching through the onset of settlement, we evaluated the swimming speed (Ucrit) of A. percula larvae at 0, 4, and 8 dph (day post hatch), and of E. lori and E. colini at 0, 10, 20, and 30 dph . At the start of each trial, an individual larva was acclimated to the flume for 2 min with water flowing at a velocity of < 1 cm s-1. If the larva displayed normal orientation and swimming behavior during acclimation, then the velocity was increased 2 cm s-1 every 2 minutes until the larva could no longer maintain position and was either expelled from the flume or collected on the back mesh. Following trials, recollected larvae or siblings from the same clutch were photographed using a dissection microscope, and photos were measured for standard length using ImageJ (NIH, USA; Table 2). A larva’s maximum swimming speed (Ucrit) was then calculated following the equation from Brett (1964).

R version 3.2.3

BCO-DMO Data Processing Notes:

-replaced empty cells with nd -reformatted date to yyyy/mm/dd -replaced species codes in sp column with full species name

Description from NSF award abstract:
Understanding how far young fish move away from their parents is a major goal of marine ecology because this dispersal can make connections between distinct populations and thus influence population size and dynamics. Understanding the drivers of population dynamics is, in turn, essential for effective fisheries management. Marine ecologists have used two different approaches to understand how fish populations are connected: genetic methods that measure connectivity and oceanographic models that predict connectivity. There is, however, a mismatch between the predictions of oceanographic models and the observations of genetic methods. It is thought that this mismatch is caused by the behavior of the young, or larval, fish. The objective of this research is to study the orientation capabilities of larval fish in the wild throughout development and under a variety of environmental conditions to see if the gap between observations and predictions of population connectivity can be resolved. The project will have broader impacts in three key areas: integration of research and teaching by training young scientists at multiple levels; broadening participation of undergraduates from underrepresented groups; and wide dissemination of results through development of a website with information and resources in English and Spanish.

The overall objective of the research is to investigate the role of larval orientation behavior throughout ontogeny in determining population connectivity. This will be done using the neon goby, Elacatinus lori, as a model system in Belize. The choice of study system is motivated by the fact that direct genetic methods have already been used to describe the complete dispersal kernel for this species, and these observations indicate that dispersal is less extensive than predicted by a high-resolution biophysical model; E. lori can be reared in the lab from hatching to settlement providing a reliable source of larvae of all ages for proposed experiments; and a new, proven behavioral observation platform, the Drifting In Situ Chamber (DISC), allows measurements of larval orientation behavior in open water. The project has three specific objectives: to understand ontogenetic changes in larval orientation capabilities by correlating larval orientation behavior with developmental sensory anatomy; to analyze variation in the precision of larval orientation in different environmental contexts through ontogeny; and to test alternative hypotheses for the goal of larval orientation behavior, i.e., to determine where larvae are heading as they develop.