Pomatomus saltatrix (Pisces:Pomatomidae) is a highly migratory, continental-shelf species with a worldwide subtropical distribution including the eastern coast of North America, the Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, north-western Africa, the eastern coast of South America, the south-eastern coast of South Africa, and the south-eastern and south-westem coasts of Australia. This paper summarizes available life history information from the different regions where P. saltatrix occurs, with a focus on the early life history. The basic physical oceanography of these regions is also reviewed to elucidate patterns in larval transport. Comparison of these populations suggests that there are commonalties: adults migrate to spawning grounds; eggs and larvae are typically advected along-shore to juvenile nursery habitats; juveniles recruit to inshore habitats at a similar size, and there they grow rapidly and are mainly piscivorous, feeding primarily on atherinids and engraulids. There are also a number of life history traits that are quite variable among populations: the number of annual reproductive peaks, the number of juvenile cohorts, adult growth patterns and reproductive parameters. Comparison of these life history patterns leads to several non-exclusive hypotheses as to the adaptive significance of variations in life history traits. The goal is to identify areas where more research is needed to assess the degree to which populations of a global species are adapted to their local environment.
Entrainment and transport of larval fish assemblages by the East Australian Current (EAC) were examined from the coastal waters of northern New South Wales (NSW) to the western Tasman Front, via the separation of the EAC from the coast, during the austral spring of 2004. Shore-normal transects from the coast to the EAC off northern NSW revealed an inner shelf assemblage of near-shore families (Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Platycephalidae and Triglidae), an EAC assemblage dominated by Myctophidae and Gonostomatidae, and a broadly distributed assemblage over the continental shelf dominated by Scombridae and Carangidae. Further south and after the EAC had separated from the coast, we observed a western Tasman Front assemblage of inner shelf and shelf families (Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Serranidae, Scombridae, Carangidae, Bothidae and Macroramphosidae). The abundance of these families declined with distance from the coast. Surprisingly, there was no distinctive or abundant larval fish assemblage in the chlorophylland zooplankton-enriched waters of the Tasman Sea. Water type properties (temperature-salinity, T-S), the larval fish assemblages and family-specific T-S signatures revealed the western Tasman Front to be an entrained mix of EAC and coastal water types. We found an abundance of commercially important species including larval sardine (Sardinops sagax, Clupeidae), blue mackerel (Scomber australasicus, Scombridae) and anchovy (Engraulis australis, Engraulidae). The entrainment and transport of larval fish from the northern inner shelf to the western Tasman Front by the EAC reflects similar processes with the Gulf Stream Front and the Kuroshio Extension.
The relationship between larval fish assemblages and coastal oceanography is the basis for much of our understanding of connectivity and productivity of fish populations. Larval fish assemblages were sampled from the upper mixed layer (<50 m depth) at three prominent circulation features [separation of the East Australian Current (EAC), anticyclonic eddy, and cyclonic eddy] off the southeast Australian coast across three bathymetric zones (shelf, slope and ocean) for each feature. The separation of the EAC from the coast at ∼32°S was characterized by warmer, less saline water compared with the cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies further to the south (∼34 and ∼35°S, respectively), which were both characterized by cooler Tasman Sea water and greater fluorescence. The anticyclonic eddy had separated from the EAC three months prior to sampling, which facilitated the movement of a cyclonic eddy from the Tasman Sea westwards to the shelf at ∼34°S. The larval assemblage in the EAC had high numbers of fish of the families Labridae and Stomiidae. The cyclonic eddy was characterized by larval clupeids, carangids, scombrids and bothids, indicating recent entrainment of shelf waters and proximity to major spawning regions. In contrast, the anticyclonic eddy had fewer larval fish, with little evidence for entrainment of shelf assemblages into the near-surface waters. Myctophids were found in high abundance across all oceanographic features and bathymetric zones. The evidence of selective entrainment of coastal larval fish into the near-surface waters of a cyclonic eddy compared with a similar anticyclonic eddy indicates a potential offshore nursery ground.
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