Research shows reef fish larvae dispersed differently
Coral reef fish start their lives as small, transparent larvae. After they hatch, they join a swirling sea of plankton and frequently get dispersed to different reefs due to ocean currents, waves and the wind.
In this study, the scientists did seven years of surveys focussing on the Clark’s anemonefish, measuring how the dispersal of larvae varied over the years and seasonally. They discovered that the larvae dispersal varied immensely on both these timescales.