Meso-American System Larval Transport & Ecology

Reef fish populations are part of one of the most complex ecosystems in the marine environment. They are also the most heavily exploited part of the ecosystem and have been pushed to extremely low levels throughout South Florida and the wider Caribbean. Despite the importance of these populations, relatively little is known about most stages of their life cycles or their interaction with small and mesoscale oceanographic patterns. Important information such as adult spawning behavior, location, and depth of spawning aggregations and recruitment is mostly unknown. Less is known about the status of these fish populations in the western Caribbean along the Meso-American reef system, though stocks there are generally considered to have suffered less exploitation. There are also significant gaps in our understanding of the complex circulation patterns along the western Caribbean Sea's Yucatan coast where the Caribbean Current and the Loop Current connect and flow into the Gulf of Mexico. This area plays a potentially important but still un-known role in the route of subtropical gyre circulation which drives the biological production and transport of larvae throughout this region. This research project is designed to provide a baseline study of the fisheries oceanography of the western Caribbean during winter spawning and provide a basis for future fisheries management decisions. What is the level of larval dispersal and recruitment connectivity within and amongst the Mesoamerican reef, the Dry Tortugas, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's reserves? Is there evidence of self-recruitment within these marine reserves?

To observe variation in ichthyoplankton abundance and composition in the region due to oceanographic processes

Funding Included NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program. Grant Number: 1244