Abstract

Previous work has shown that reef fish populations at Barbados, West Indies, are largely self-recruiting and that North Brazil RetroflectionCurrent rings frequently impinge upon the island and surrounding waters. In order to examine the impact of these rings on the growth and survivorship reef fish larvae, we examined The otolith record of successful recruits to the island. New recroits of The bluehead wrasse, Thalassoma bifaciatum, were collected from nearshore reefs every two weeks for 18 months. Examination of the otolith record demonstrated that larvae encountering rings exhibited slower growth rates, leading to longer pelagic larval durations. This was especially true for those larvae encountering a ring early in their larval life. Larval growth rates were directly correlated with the salinity of nearshore waters. However,this generally negative impact of rings on larval growth sometimes can be countered by increased larval retention rates during ring events.

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