2001/01/01 by Anna Metaxas
paper · doi:10.1139/f00-159
For marine benthic invertebrates with meroplanktonic larvae, the relative importance of hydrodynamics and swimming behaviour in determining larval dispersal in the water column, particularly at small spatial scales, has not been determined. In the field, larval aggregations recorded at physical and biological discontinuities in the water column were attributed to hydrodynamics. Similar aggregations obtained in the absence of flow in the laboratory indicate a potentially significant role of behaviour. At large spatial scales, larval distribution in the plankton is mainly regulated by horizontal advection. However, the ability of larvae to behaviourally regulate their position at scales of micrometres to metres when exposed to turbulent fluid motion in the water column, as evidenced in the benthic boundary layer, is unknown. Evaluation of swimming in turbulent flows in the water column is an intriguing area of research, which involves several constraints. In the field, quantification of behaviour is limited by low success in tracking larvae and lack of appropriate observational tools. In the laboratory, the generation and quantification of flow regimes that are representative of those in the field remains a challenge. An approach that integrates biological and physical measurements within realistic ranges is necessary to advance our understanding of larval dispersal.