Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Critical swimming speeds of late-stage coral reef fish larvae: variation within species, among species and between locations

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The swimming abilities of larval fishes are important for their survival, potentially affecting their ability to avoid predators, obtain food and control dispersal patterns. Near settlement swimming abilities may also influence spatial and temporal patterns of recruitment. We examined Critical speed (U-crit) swimming ability in late stage larvae of 89 species of coral reef fishes from the Great Barrier Reef and the Caribbean. Coefficients of variation in U-crit calculated at the individual level were high (28.4%), and this was not explained by differences in size or condition factor of these same larvae. Among species U-crit ranged from 5.5 cm s−1 to 100.8 cm s−1 (mean=37.3 cm s−1), with 95% of species able to swim faster than the average current speed around Lizard Island, suggesting that most species should be capable of influencing their spatial and temporal patterns of settlement. Inter-specific differences in swimming ability (at both the family and species levels) were significantly correlated with size and larval morphology. Correlations were found between swimming performance and propulsive area, fineness ratio and aspect ratio, and these morphological parameters may prove useful for predicting swimming ability in other taxa. Overall, the swimming speeds of larvae from the same families at the two locations were relatively similar, although the Lutjanidae and Acanthuridae from the Caribbean were significantly slower than those from the great barrier reef. Differences in swimming speed and body form among late stage larvae suggests that they will respond differently to factors influencing survival and transport during their pelagic phase, as well as habitat use following settlement.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bainbridge R (1960) Speed and stamina in three fish. J Exp Biol 370:129–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood DR, Fisher R (2001) Relative swimming speeds in reef fish larvae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 211:299–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boily P, Magnan P (2002) Relationship between individual variation in morphological characters and swimming costs in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) and yellow perch (Perca falvescens). J Exp Biol 205:1031–1036

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Botsford L, Hastings A, Gaines S (2001) Dependence of sustainability on the configuration of marine reserves and larval dispersal distance. Ecol Lett 4:144–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brett JR (1964) The respiratory metabolism and swimming performance of young sockeye salmon. J Fish Res Bd Can 21:1183–1226

    Google Scholar 

  • Drucker EG (1996) The use of gait transition speed in comparative studies of fish locomotion. Am Zool 36:555–566

    Google Scholar 

  • Farlinger S, Beamish FW (1977) Effects of time and velocity increments on the critical swimming speed of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Trans Am Fish Soc 106:436–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrell AP, Johansen JA, Suarez RK (1991) Effects of exercise-training on cardiac performance and muscle enzymes in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Fish Physiol Biochem 9:303–312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R (2005) Swimming speeds of larval coral reef fishes: impacts on self-recruitment and dispersal. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 285:223–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R, Bellwood DR (2002) The influence of swimming speed on sustained swimming performance of late-stage reef fish larvae. Mar Biol 140:801–807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R, Bellwood DR (2003) Undisturbed swimming behaviour and nocturnal activity of coral reef fish larvae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 263:177–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R, Wilson SK (2004) Maximum sustainable swimming speeds of nine species of late stage larval reef fishes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 312:171–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R, Bellwood DR, Job SD (2000) The development of swimming abilities in reef fish larvae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 202:163–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frith CA, Leis JM, Goldman B (1986) Currents in the Lizard island region of the great barrier reef lagoon and their relevance to potential movements of larvae. Coral Reefs 5:81–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fulton CJ, Bellwood DR (2004) Wave exposure, swimming performance, and the structure of tropical and temperate reef fish assemblages. Mar Biol 144:429–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fulton CJ, Bellwood DR, Wainwright PC (2001) The relationship between swimming ability and habitat use in wrasses (Labridae). Mar Biol 139:25–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green B, Fisher R (2004) Temperature influences swimming speed, growth and larval duration in coral reef fish larvae. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 299:115–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartwell SI, Otto RG (1978) Swimming performance of juvenile menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus). Trans Am Fish Soc 107:793–798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartwell SI, Otto RG (1991) Critical swimming capacity of the Atlantic Silverside, Menidia menidia L. Estuaries 14:218–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins DK, Quinn TP (1996) Critical swimming velocity and associated morphology of juvenile coastal cutthroat trout (Onchorhynchus clarkii), steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and their hybrids. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53:1487–1496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter J (1981) Feeding Ecology and predation of marine fish larvae. In: Lasker R (ed) Marine fish larvae. University of Washington, Washington, pp 33–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones DR, Kiceniuk JW, Bamford OS (1974) Evaluation of the swimming performance of several fish species from Mackenzie River. J Fish Res Bd Can 31:1641–1647

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerrigan BA (1996) Temporal patterns in size and condition at settlement in two tropical reef fishes (Pomacentridae: Pomacentrus amionensisandP. nagasakiensis). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 135:27–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolok AS (1991) Photoperiod alters the critical swimming speed of juvenile largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, acclimated to cold water. Copeia 1991:1085–1090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolok AS (1999) Interindividual variation in the prolonged locomotor performance of ectothermic vertebrates: a comparison of fish and herpetofaunal methodologies and a brief review of the recent fish literature. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 56:700–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolok AS, Oris JT (1995) The relationship between specific growth rate and swimming performance in male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Can J Zool/Rev Can Zool 73:2165–2167

    Google Scholar 

  • Koumoundouros G, Sfakianakis DG, Divanach P, Kentouri M (2002) Effect of temperature on swimming performance of sea bass juveniles. J Fish Biol 60:923–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leis JM, Carson-Ewart BM (1997) In situ swimming speeds of the late pelagic larvae of some Indo-Pacific coral-reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 159:165–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leis JM, Carson-Ewart BM (2000) Larvae of Indo-Pacific coastal fishes: an identification guide to marine fish larvae. Brill, Leiden

    Google Scholar 

  • Leis JM, Fisher R (2005) Swimming speed of late-stage reef-fish larvae measured in the laboratory and in the field: a comparison of critical speed and in situ speed. In: Proceedings of the 10th international coral reef symposium, Okinawa (in Press)

  • Lowe CG (1996) Kinematics and critical swimming speed of juvenile scalloped hammerhead sharks. J Exp Biol 199:2605–2610

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie BR, Kiorboe T (1995) Encounter rates and swimming behavior of pause-travel and cruise larval fish predators in calm and turbulent laboratory environments. Limnol Oceanogr 40:1278–1289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick M (1998) Condition and growth of reef fish at settlement: is it important? Aust J Ecol 23:258–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller T, Crowder LB, Rice JA, Marschall EA (1988) Larval size and recruitment mechanisms in fishes: toward a conceptual framework. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:1657–1670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery JC, Tolimieri N, Haine O (2001) Active habitat selection by pre-settlement reef fishes. Fish Fish 2:261–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora C, Sale PF (2002) Are populations of coral reef fish open or closed?. TREE 17:422–428

    Google Scholar 

  • Myrick CA, Cech JJ, (2000) Swimming performance of four California stream fishes: temperature effects. Environ Biol Fish 58:289–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peake S, McKinley RS (1998) A re-evaluation of swimming performance in juvenile salmonids relative to downstream migration. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:682–687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plaut I (2000) Effects of fin size on swimming performance, swimming behaviour and routine activity of zebrafish Danio rerio. J Exp Biol 203:813–820

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Plaut I (2001) Critical swimming speed: its ecological relevance. Comp Biochem Physiol A 131:41–50

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reidy SP, Kerr SR, Nelson JA (2000) Aerobic and anaerobic swimming performance of individual Atlantic cod. J Exp Biol 203:347–357

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sagnes P, Champagne JY, Morel R (2000) Shifts in drag and swimming potential during grayling ontogenesis: relations with habitat use. J Fish Biol 57:52–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sambilay VC (1990) Interrelationships between swimming speed, caudal fin aspect ratio and body length of fishes. Fishbyte 8:16–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Stobutzki IC (1998) Interspecific variation in sustained swimming ability of late pelagic stage reef fish from two families (Pomacentridae and Chaetodontidae). Coral Reefs 17:111–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stobutzki IC, Bellwood DR (1994) An analysis of the sustained swimming abilities of pre- and post-settlement coral reef fishes. J Exp Biol Ecol 175:275–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stobutzki IC, Bellwood DR (1997) Sustained swimming abilities of the late pelagic stages of coral reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 149:35–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle CS (1975) Limit of fish swimming speed. Nature 255:725–726

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle CS (1977) Effects of size on the swimming speeds of fish. In: Pedley T (ed) Scale effects in animal locomotion. Academic, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb P (1977) Effects of size on performance and energetics of fish. In: Pedley T (ed) Scale effects in animal locomotion. Academic, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb PW (1984) Body form, locomotion and foraging in aquatic vertebrates. Am Zool 24:107–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb P (1994) The biology of fish swimming. In: Maddock L, Bone Q, Rayner J (eds) Mechanics and physiology of animal swimming. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 45–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb PW, Weihs D (1986) Functional locomotor morphology of early life history stages of fishes. Trans Am Fish Soc 115:115–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams IV, Brett JR (1987) Critical swimming speed of Fraser and Thompson River pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 44:348–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RW, Egginton S (1994) Assessment of maximum sustainable swimming performance in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). J Exp Biol 192:299–305

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank I.C. Stobutzki, D.R. Bellwood and M. McCormick for use of experimental equipment. Valuable field assistance was provided by S. Street, P. Hansen, H. Parks, K. Hutson, S. Golding, D. Fisher and R. Ferris. We also gratefully acknowledge field logistical support by the Lizard Island Research Station (Australian Museum) as well as the Centre for Marine Resource Studies (The School for Field Studies), South Caicos Island. The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (South Caicos Island) generously provided access to aquarium facilities. Some experimental specimens were provided by S. Simpson and O. Haine. We also thank D. Wilson for valuable comments on the manuscript and assistance with larval identification of Caribbean species. This work was funded by a Lizard Island Doctoral Fellowship (Australian Museum) (RF), the Australian Coral Reef Society (RF), an ARC Discovery Grant (DP0345876) (JML) and a DST International Science Linkages Programme (ISL-CG03-0043) (JML). Portions of this work were carried out under Australian Museum Animal Care and Ethics Approval 01/01 (JML) and James Cook Ethics Approval A202, 402 (RF).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Rebecca Fisher

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON, N9B3A1, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Rebecca Fisher

  2. Department of Ichthyology, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Jeffrey M. Leis & Domine L. Clark

  3. The School for Field Studies, Centre for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands

    Shaun K. Wilson

Authors
  1. Rebecca Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeffrey M. Leis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Domine L. Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shaun K. Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca Fisher.

Additional information

Communicated by P. W. Sammarco, Chauvin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fisher, R., Leis, J.M., Clark, D.L. et al. Critical swimming speeds of late-stage coral reef fish larvae: variation within species, among species and between locations. Marine Biology 147, 1201–1212 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0001-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0001-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation