Many of the world’s marine fish spend their first days or weeks feeding and developing at the ocean surface. Larval fish are the next generation of adult fish that will supply protein and essential nutrients to people around the world. However, little is known about the ocean processes that affect the survival of larval fish. NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and an international team of scientists conducted one of the most ambitious studies to date to learn where larval fish spend their time and what they eat there.
The study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers combined field-based plankton tow surveys and advanced remote sensing techniques to identify larval fish nursery habitats in the coastal waters of Hawai‘i.
The team found that surface slicks contained far more larval fish than neighboring surface waters. Surface slicks are naturally occurring, ribbon-like, smooth water features at the ocean surface. They form when internal ocean waves converge near coastlines in marine ecosystems worldwide. The surface slicks also aggregate plankton, which is an important food resource for larval fish.
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Photo: A scribbled filefish, about 50 days old and 2 inches long, surrounded by plastics. Photo courtesy of David Liitschwager.