Volume 67

An Examination of the Diversity and Abundance of Ichthyoplankton in the Loop Current of the Central Gulf of Mexico


Authors
Taylor, S., R.T. Leaf, F.J. Hernandez, Jr., J.S. Franks, and E.R. Hoffmayer
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Other Information


Date: November, 2014


Pages: 173 - 185


Event: Proceedings of the Sixty seven Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute


City: Christ Church


Country: Barbados

Abstract

The Loop Current boundary (LCB), an area characterized by the transition of environmental conditions of the water mass between the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and Caribbean, provides increased feeding opportunities relative to the surrounding oligo-trophic waters for ichthyoplankton. The goals of this study were to characterize the relative density of ichthyoplankton and to describe the community composition of the LCB. Ichthyoplankton were collected in and around the vicinity of the LCB; attempts were made to distribute samples equally across the LCB. We identified post hoc the origin of ichthyoplankton samples from one of three water masses: GOM, LCB, or Caribbean. We took 18 samples in four transects and caught 12,401 ichthyoplankton from 53 families. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling, we identified three unique assemblages of ichthyoplankton at the LCB: a transition assemblage found around the LCB and two peripheral groups originating from either GOM or Caribbean water masses. We found significant dissimilarity in the pairwise comparisons of familial compositions (p < 0.05). The LCB ecotone displays a unique biotic assemblage of economically important fishes and may be essential to the early life history of these fishes.

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