SGER - Orientation of Coral Reef Fish Larvae in the Open Ocean with no Apparent Frame of Reference

虽然最近的数据表明，珊瑚鱼幼虫可能通过垂直迁移和积极游动行为对其扩散模式产生相当大的影响，但这种行为的实际影响仍然存在疑问。为了使幼虫对它们的扩散和生存产生重大影响，它们必须能够探测公海中洋流的方向和/或使用各种不同的线索来确定方向。珊瑚鱼幼体是否能察觉洋流的方向，并在开阔的海洋中有任何明显的定向行为，目前尚不清楚。本研究将开发创新的方法，并使用综合生态学方法来调查新孵化和晚期珊瑚鱼幼虫在开阔海洋中探测和响应洋流方向的能力，以及检查它们对各种潜在感官线索（如化学、视觉和机械线索）和大尺度（如声学、磁场、天体、海洋和海洋）的响应的定向行为。在开阔的海洋和离珊瑚礁不同距离的地方。通过研究一系列珊瑚礁鱼类的定向能力，本研究将为了解幼虫利用主动行为影响其扩散模式的潜力提供重要信息。更广泛的影响-拟议的观测技术也可以应用于具有远洋幼虫阶段的大量海洋生物。拟议的探索性方法的成功，加上遥感和摄像技术的迅速发展，可以促进幼虫生态学领域的创新进展。在过去十年中，有一种趋势是建立海洋保护区，作为保护濒危渔业物种和通过依赖密度的溢出和增加幼虫产量来增加种群的保障。了解海洋种群通过幼虫扩散的连通性对海洋保护区网络的优化设计以及对超种群结构的基本认识至关重要。从这个项目中获得的信息有可能在很大程度上推动世界范围内的珊瑚礁管理理论。

Although recent data suggest that reef fish larvae may have a considerable influence on their dispersal patterns through vertical migration and active swimming behavior, the realized impact of such behavior remains in doubt. For larvae to have a significant impact on their dispersal and survival they must be capable of detecting the direction of currents in the open ocean and/or use a variety of different cues for orientation. Whether reef fish larvae can detect the direction of ocean currents and have any apparent orientation behavior in the open ocean is so far unknown. This study will develop innovative methodology and use an integrated ecological approach to investigate the ability of both newly hatched and late stage reef fish larvae to detect and respond to the direction of current flow in the open ocean, as well as examine their orientation behavior in response to a variety of potential sensory cues on both small (e.g., chemical, visual, and mechanical cues) and large scales (e.g., acoustic, magnetic, celestial, and solar cues) in the open ocean and at various distances from the reef. By investigating the orientation capabilities of a range of reef fish species, this study will provide information vital to understanding the potential for the larvae to influence their dispersal patterns using active behavior. Broader Impacts - The proposed observational technique could also be applied to a large array of marine organisms that have a pelagic larval stage. The success of the proposed exploratory approach, together with rapid development of remote sensing and camera technologies, could catalyze innovative advances in the field of larval ecology. Over the last decade there has been a trend towards implementing marine protected areas as a safeguard to protecting endangered fisheries species and to enhance stocks through density dependent spill over and increased larval output. An understanding of the connectivity of marine populations through larval dispersal is critical for the optimal design of marine protected area networks as well as for the basic understanding of metapopulation structures. Information obtained from this project has the potential to substantially advance reef management theory worldwide.