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Link to original content: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0001-x
Critical swimming speeds of late-stage coral reef fish larvae: variation within species, among species and between locations | Marine Biology Skip to main content
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Critical swimming speeds of late-stage coral reef fish larvae: variation within species, among species and between locations

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Abstract

The swimming abilities of larval fishes are important for their survival, potentially affecting their ability to avoid predators, obtain food and control dispersal patterns. Near settlement swimming abilities may also influence spatial and temporal patterns of recruitment. We examined Critical speed (U-crit) swimming ability in late stage larvae of 89 species of coral reef fishes from the Great Barrier Reef and the Caribbean. Coefficients of variation in U-crit calculated at the individual level were high (28.4%), and this was not explained by differences in size or condition factor of these same larvae. Among species U-crit ranged from 5.5 cm s−1 to 100.8 cm s−1 (mean=37.3 cm s−1), with 95% of species able to swim faster than the average current speed around Lizard Island, suggesting that most species should be capable of influencing their spatial and temporal patterns of settlement. Inter-specific differences in swimming ability (at both the family and species levels) were significantly correlated with size and larval morphology. Correlations were found between swimming performance and propulsive area, fineness ratio and aspect ratio, and these morphological parameters may prove useful for predicting swimming ability in other taxa. Overall, the swimming speeds of larvae from the same families at the two locations were relatively similar, although the Lutjanidae and Acanthuridae from the Caribbean were significantly slower than those from the great barrier reef. Differences in swimming speed and body form among late stage larvae suggests that they will respond differently to factors influencing survival and transport during their pelagic phase, as well as habitat use following settlement.

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Acknowledgements

We thank I.C. Stobutzki, D.R. Bellwood and M. McCormick for use of experimental equipment. Valuable field assistance was provided by S. Street, P. Hansen, H. Parks, K. Hutson, S. Golding, D. Fisher and R. Ferris. We also gratefully acknowledge field logistical support by the Lizard Island Research Station (Australian Museum) as well as the Centre for Marine Resource Studies (The School for Field Studies), South Caicos Island. The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (South Caicos Island) generously provided access to aquarium facilities. Some experimental specimens were provided by S. Simpson and O. Haine. We also thank D. Wilson for valuable comments on the manuscript and assistance with larval identification of Caribbean species. This work was funded by a Lizard Island Doctoral Fellowship (Australian Museum) (RF), the Australian Coral Reef Society (RF), an ARC Discovery Grant (DP0345876) (JML) and a DST International Science Linkages Programme (ISL-CG03-0043) (JML). Portions of this work were carried out under Australian Museum Animal Care and Ethics Approval 01/01 (JML) and James Cook Ethics Approval A202, 402 (RF).

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  1. Rebecca Fisher

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON, N9B3A1, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Rebecca Fisher

  2. Department of Ichthyology, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Jeffrey M. Leis & Domine L. Clark

  3. The School for Field Studies, Centre for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands

    Shaun K. Wilson

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  1. Rebecca Fisher
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Correspondence to Rebecca Fisher.

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Communicated by P. W. Sammarco, Chauvin

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Fisher, R., Leis, J.M., Clark, D.L. et al. Critical swimming speeds of late-stage coral reef fish larvae: variation within species, among species and between locations. Marine Biology 147, 1201–1212 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0001-x

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