Jesús Pineda1, Carolyn Tepolt1, Victoria Starczak1, Phil Alatalo1, Sara Shapiro1
1Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
Benthic invertebrate larvae can be abundant in the surface ocean, which plays a key role in their transport and connectivity. Surface microhabitats characterized by small-scale hydrographic variability (10’s m) are complex and ubiquitous in the coastal ocean and a trophic hotspot where benthic and pelagic forms interact, but their study is challenging, and they have been largely neglected in the context of larval and community ecology. Surface convergences may aggregate neuston, including the larval stages of the American lobster and other materials and organisms that could provide shelter and food for larvae and thus enhance their condition and survivorship. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a series of cruises in the Gulf of Maine, USA, where we sampled surface convergences, and in each case, a nearby paired off-convergence unstructured habitat. We measured acoustic backscatter, circulation, hydrography, larval abundance and neuston community structure. Laboratory experiments and image analysis compared condition, color, and morphology of postlarvae sampled on and off potential convergences. The highest larval densities were found in convergences, but abundance patterns on and off convergences were not consistent. Community structure varied among convergences, and benthic forms tended to co-occur. Laboratory analyses indicated no survivorship differences among convergence and non-convergence individuals, though image analyses revealed coloration differences. Physical measurements indicated convergence heterogeneity, and in some cases, evidence of shoreward transport. Qualitative neuston community analyses reinforced these differences, showing substantial heterogeneity among potential convergences. Our results reinforce that coastal small-scale surface heterogeneities are highly variable but important in shaping the pelagic and neustonic habitats that play a critical role in the early-life ecology of many species, including lobsters.
Biography
When Jesús was a child, his favorite hobby was fishing in the river near his grandmother’s ranch in central Mexico. He was fascinated by the marine environment from a young age. In graduate school, he discovered his passion for larval transport. Since then, his career has focused on how larvae of different species are transported through the ocean, and their fate after they settle. However, he has also published work on deep-sea species diversity, coral reefs, and whale and shark behavior.