Incorporation of larval fishes into a developing anti-cyclonic eddy of the Leeuwin Current off south-western Australia

The timing, sources and pathways for incorporation of larval fishes into a developing anti-cyclonic eddy off south-western Australia were investigated. Larval fish assemblages within the study region were structured by location (shelf, eddy and oceanic) and water mass. The larval fish assemblage within the eddy was significantly distinct from that characterizing the surrounding oceanic water. The eddy assemblage, which was comprised largely of larvae of oceanic meso-pelagic fishes (especially Diaphus spp. and Vinciguerria spp.) and less abundant neritic taxa, reflected its Leeuwin Current (LC), shelf and oceanic source waters. The occurrence of neritic taxa in the eddy confirmed the hypothesis that these larvae were incorporated as it developed in proximity to the shelf break. The significantly larger larval size of temperate neritic taxa (e. g. Sardinops sagax, Engraulis australis) in the eddy compared with the shelf suggests that these larvae were transported from the shelf adjacent to the developing eddy. The occurrence of tropical neritic taxa (e. g. Acanthuridae, Lutjanidae, Pomacentridae) highlighted the LC as an important transport route to higher latitudes. Coupling the sampling of larval fishes with the trajectories of Lagrangian drifters provided insight into how larval fish assemblages changed during development of the eddy.