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Does fish larval dispersal differ between high and low latitudes?

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journal contribution
posted on 2013-05-22, 00:00 authored by J M Leis, J E Caselle, I R Bradbury, T Kristiansen, J K Llopiz, M J Miller, M I O'Connor, C B Paris, A L Shanks, S M Sogard, S E Swearer, Eric Treml, R D Vetter, R R Warner
Several factors lead to expectations that the scale of larval dispersal and population connectivity of marine animals differs with latitude. We examine this expectation for demersal shorefishes, including relevant mechanisms, assumptions and evidence. We explore latitudinal differences in (i) biological (e.g. species composition, spawning mode, pelagic larval duration, PLD), (ii) physical (e.g. water movement, habitat fragmentation), and (iii) biophysical factors (primarily temperature, which could strongly affect development, swimming ability or feeding). Latitudinal differences exist in taxonomic composition, habitat fragmentation, temperature and larval swimming, and each difference could influence larval dispersal. Nevertheless, clear evidence for latitudinal differences in larval dispersal at the level of broad faunas is lacking. For example, PLD is strongly influenced by taxon, habitat and geographical region, but no independent latitudinal trend is present in published PLD values. Any trends in larval dispersal may be obscured by a lack of appropriate information, or use of 'off the shelf' information that is biased with regard to the species assemblages in areas of concern. Biases may also be introduced from latitudinal differences in taxa or spawning modes as well as limited latitudinal sampling. We suggest research to make progress on the question of latitudinal trends in larval dispersal.

History

Journal

Proceedings of the royal society b: biological sciences

Volume

280

Issue

1759

Article number

20130327

Publisher

The Royal Society Publishing

Location

London, Eng.

ISSN

0962-8452

eISSN

1471-2954

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2013, The Author(s)