Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns of distribution and abundance of bonefish larvae Albula spp. (Albulidae) in the western Caribbean and adjacent areas

  • Full Paper
  • Published:
Ichthyological Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Overall patterns of distribution and abundance of Albula spp. leptocephali larvae offshore in the western Caribbean Sea (CAS) and Gulf of Mexico (GOM), and in coastal waters of the Mexican Caribbean (MXC) were analyzed from: (a) cruise data available from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (CAS, GOM) and (b) coastal plankton surveys (1998–2002 and January 2004) (MXC). We found striking inshore-offshore differences in the larval catch and size structure. Offshore cruises yielded 57 leptocephali, mostly determined as early stage I (18.0 ± 8.2 mm SL, mean ± SD). In contrast, coastal samples yielded 2,466 larvae 51.4 ± 3.6 mm SL, mostly late stage I; of these, 2,345 (95%) were caught over 4 nights in January 2004. The relationship between the larval length (mm, SL) and the distance to the coastline (km) was best represented by the regression model \( LENGTH_{ij} = 51.44 - 0.235 \cdot DISTANCE_{ij} + \varepsilon_{ij} \) with a distinct variance for each locality. To ascertain whether the coastal inflow of leptocephali follows a regular seasonal pattern or depends on episodic events will require further monitoring; available evidence suggests that the southern coast of the MXC offers favorable conditions for the recruitment of Albula spp. larvae.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams AJ, Wolfe RK, Tringali MD, Wallace E, Kellison GT (2007) Rethinking the status of Albula spp. biology in the Caribbean and western Atlantic. In: Ault JS (ed) The biology and management of the world tarpon and bonefish fisheries. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 203–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander EC (1961) A contribution to the life history, biology and geographical distribution of the bonefish, Albula vulpes (Linnaeus). Dana Rep 53:1–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson TW, Bartels CT, Hixon MA, Bartels E, Carr MH, Shenker JM (2002) Current velocity and catch efficiency in sampling settlement-stage larvae of coral-reef fishes. Fish Bull 100:404–413

    Google Scholar 

  • Ault JS, Humston R, Larkin MF, Perusquia E, Farmer NA, Luo J, Zurcher N, Smith SG, Barbieri LR, Posada JM (2007) Population dynamics and resource ecology of Atlantic tarpon and bonefish. In: Ault JS (ed) The biology and management of the world tarpon and bonefish fisheries. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 215–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen BW, Karl SA, Pfeiler E (2007) Resolving evolutionary lineages and taxonomy of bonefishes (Albula spp.). In: Ault JS (ed) The biology and management of the world tarpon and bonefish fisheries. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 147–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs JC (1960) Fishes of worldwide (circumtropical) distribution. Copeia 1960:171–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodal inference. A practical information-theoretic approach. Springer-Verlag, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Colborn J, Crabtree RE, Shaklee JB, Pfeiler E, Bowen B (2001) The evolutionary enigma of bonefishes (Albula spp.): cryptic species and ancient separations in a globally distributed shorefishes. Evolution 55:807–820

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crabtree RE, Snodgrass D, Harnden CW (1997) Maduration and reproductive seasonality in bonefish, Albula vulpes, from the waters of the Florida Keys. Fish Bull 95:456–465

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlgren C, Shenker JM, Mojica R (2007) Ecology of bonefish during the transition from late larvae to early juveniles. In: Ault JS (ed) The biology and management of the world tarpon and bonefish fisheries. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 155–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Danilowicz BS (1997) A potential mechanism for episodic recruitment of a coral reef fish. Ecology 78:1415–1423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon PA, Milicich MJ, Sugihara G (1999) Episodic fluctuations in larval supply. Science 283:1528–1530

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eldred B (1967) Larval bonefish, Albula vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) (Albulidae) in Florida and adjacent waters. Fla Bd Conserv Mar Lab Leaflet Ser, vol IV, part 1, no. 3, Florida

  • Friedlander A, Caselle JE, Beets J, Lowe CG, Bowen BW, Ogawa TK, Kelly KM, Calitri T, Lange M, Anderson BS (2007) Biology and ecology of the recreational bonefish fishery at Palmyra Atoll national wildlife refuge with comparisons to other Pacific islands. In: Ault JS (ed) The biology and management of the world tarpon and bonefish fisheries. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 28–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray CA (1996) Small-scale temporal variability in assemblages of larval fishes: implications for sampling. J Plan Res 18:1643–1657

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendricks IE, Wilson DT, Meekan MG (2001) Vertical distributions of late stage larval fishes in the nearshore waters of the San Blas Archipielago, Caribbean Panama. Coral Reefs 20:77–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrera-Pavón R, Arce-Ibarra M (2004) La pesca de sábalo (Megalops atlanticus) y macabí (Albula vulpes) en la zona sur de Quintana Roo, México. Abstract of Proceedings form the Third International Tarpon Symposium. Con Mar Sci 37:98–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Hettler WF Jr, Peters DS, Colby DR, Laban EH (1997) Daily variability in abundance of larval fishes at Beaufort Inlet. Fish Bull 95:477–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Hildebrand SF (1963) Family Elopidae. In: Bigelow HB (ed) Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale Univ New Haven, pp 111–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Ihaka R, Gentleman R (1996) R: A language for data analysis and graphics. J Com Graph Stat 5:299–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones DL (2006) Design, construction and use of a new light trap for sampling larval coral reef fishes. NOAA Tech Mem NMFS-SEFSC 544:1–34

    Google Scholar 

  • McBride RS, Horodysky AJ (2004) Mechanisms maintaining sympatric distributions of two ladyfish (Elopidae: Elops) morphs in the Gulf of Mexico and western North Atlantic Ocean. Limnol Oceanogr 49:1173–1181

    Google Scholar 

  • Mojica R, Shenker JM, Harnden CW, Wagner DE (1995) Recruitment of bonefish, Albula vulpes around Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas. Fish Bull 93:666–674

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora J (2003) Distribución y abundancia del macabí (Albula vulpes Linnaeus, 1758) en la parte norte de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka′an, Quintana Roo. Tesis de Maestría en Ciencias, UNAM, México

    Google Scholar 

  • Ordóñez-López U (2004) Ictioplancton de dos hábitats en el arrecife frente a Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo: Estructura, asociaciones y su relación hidrológica. Tesis de Doctorado en Ciencias (Biología). Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, UNAM, México

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfeiler E, Mendoza MA, Manrique FA (1988) Premetamorphic bonefish (Albula sp.) leptocephali form the Gulf of California with comments on life history. Environ Biol Fish 21:241–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeiler E, Bitler BG, Ulloa R (2006) Phylogenetic relationships of the shafted bonefish Albula nemoptera (Albuliformes: Albulidae) form the Eastern Pacific based on cytochrome b sequence analyses. Copeia 2006:778–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsey FL, Schafer DW (2002) The statistical sleuth. A course in methods of data analysis Duxbury. Pacific Grove, CA, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards WJ (1984) Kinds and abundances of fish larvae in the Caribbean Sea and adjacent areas. NOAA Tech Rep NMFS SSRF 776:1–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards WJ, Potthoff T, Kelley S, McGowan MF, Ejsymont L, Power JH, Olvera RM (1984) Larval distribution and abundance of Engraulidae, Carangidae, Clupeidae, Lutjanidae, Serranidae, Coryphaenidae, Istiophoridae, Xiphiidae and Scombridae in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA Tech Mem NMFS SEFC 144:1–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards WJ, McGowan MF, Leming T, Lamkin JT, Kelley S (1993) Larval fish assemblages at the loop current boundary in the Gulf of Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 53:475–537

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivas LR, Warlen SM (1967) Systematics and biology of the bonefish, Albula nemoptera (Fowler). Fish Bull 66:251–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Rooker JR, Dennis GD, Goulet D (1996) Sampling larval fishes with a nightlight lift-net in tropical inshore waters. Fish Res 26:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitter-Soto JJ, Vásquez-Yeomans L, Aguilar-Pereira A, Curiel-Mondragón C, Caballero-Vázquez JA (2000) Lista de peces marinos del Caribe Mexicano. Anales del Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Serie Biología 71:143–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenker JM, Maddox ED, Wishinski E, Pearl A, Thorrold SR, Smith N (1993) Onshore transport of settlement-stage Nassau grouper Epinephelus striatus and other fishes in Exuma Sound, Bahamas. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 98:31–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DG (1989) Order Elopiformes: Families Elopidae, Megalopidae, and Albulidae: Leptocephali. In: Böhlke EB (ed) Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University New Haven. pp 961–972

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith CL, Tyler JC, Davis WP, Jones RS, Smith DG, Baldwin CC (2003) Fishes of the Pelican Cays of Belize. Atoll Res Bull 497:1–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass D, Crabtree RE, Serafy JE (2008) Abundance, growth, and diet of young-of-the-year bonefish (Albula spp.) off the Florida Keys, U.S.A. Bull Mar Sci 82:185–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal R, Rohlf F (1995) Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sponaugle S, Cowen RK (1996) Nearshore patterns of coral reef fish larval supply to Barbados, West Indies. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 133:13–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorrold SR, Shenker JM, Wishinski E, Mojica R, Maddox ED (1994) Larval supply of shorefishes to nursery habitats around Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas. I. Small-scale distribution patterns. Mar Biol 118:555–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vásquez-Yeomans L, Richards WJ (1999) Variación estacional del ictioplancton de la Bahía de la Ascensión, Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka’an (1990–1994). Rev Biol Trop 47(Supl 1):197–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Vásquez-Yeomans L, Ordóñez-López U, Sosa-Cordero E (1998) Fish larvae adjacent to a coral reef in the western Caribbean Sea off Mahahual, Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 62:229–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DT (2001) Patterns of replenishment of coral-reef fishes in the nearshore waters of the San Blas Archipelago, Caribbean Panama. Mar Biol 139:735–753

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DT (2003) The arrival of late-stage coral reef fish larvae in near-shore waters in relation to tides and time of night. In: Browman HI, Skiftesvik AB (eds) The big fish bang. Proccedings Annual Larval Fish Conference Institute Marine Research. Bergen, Norway, 2003, Gale Group. pp 345–364

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Smith GM (2007) Analyzing ecological data. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

These results are part of the doctoral thesis of the first author, which is being conducted though in CINVESTAV-Unidad Mérida. We thank Estrella Malca, Roberto Herrera, César Quintal, Alfredo Martin, and Nemesio Salazar for field assistance. Margarita Ornelas helped with sample sorting of Bacalar Chico. The authors would like to thank Laura Carrillo, who read the initial manuscript and offered helpful comments, Eduardo Suárez-Morales for valuable comments and editorial assistance, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments. Uriel Ordóñez-López provided unpublished data. Funding for the work was provided in part by CONABIO project S026, NOAA/UM project 517/04 (Monitoring Coral Reef Fish Utilization of MPAs and Recruitment Connectivity between the Florida Keys and Meso-American Reefs), and ECOSUR project 41007 Ecología y Taxonomía del Zooplancton Marino. We also acknowledge the logistic support of the Dirección de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka’an (RBSK) and Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Xcalak (PNAX), especially its director, María del Carmen García. This investigation counts were carried out with permission for scientific collection by the Mexican government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudios Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Unidad Mérida, Km. 6 Antigua carretera a Progreso Apdo, Postal 73, Cordemex, 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Lourdes Vásquez-Yeomans

  2. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Ave. Centenario Km 5.5 Apdo, Postal 424, C.P. 77014, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    Lourdes Vásquez-Yeomans, Eloy Sosa-Cordero & José A. Cohuo

  3. Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami-RSMAS, 4600 Richenbacker Cswy, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Monica R. Lara

  4. Fisheries Habitat Ecology Program Center for Fisheries Enhancement, Mote Marine Lab Charlotte Harbor Field Station, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Aaron J. Adams

Authors
  1. Lourdes Vásquez-Yeomans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eloy Sosa-Cordero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Monica R. Lara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Aaron J. Adams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. José A. Cohuo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lourdes Vásquez-Yeomans.

About this article

Cite this article

Vásquez-Yeomans, L., Sosa-Cordero, E., Lara, M.R. et al. Patterns of distribution and abundance of bonefish larvae Albula spp. (Albulidae) in the western Caribbean and adjacent areas. Ichthyol Res 56, 266–275 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-009-0098-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-009-0098-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation