Onshore transport of settlement-stage Nassau grouper Epinephelus striatus and other fishes in Exuma Sound, Bahamas

Abstract

Large-scale movement of fishes through the channels was restricted to flood tides that occurred during dark, moonless times of the night. Many of the dominant taxa (eg leptocephali, Bothidae) recruited on dark nights with peak onshore movement on nights when winds and currents had strong cross-shelf components of motion. Other taxa had very short, discrete recruitment pulses associated with specific environmental events; 86% of the total annual recruitment of Nassau grouper occurred during a single 4 d storm that triggered extensive cross-shelf movement of water, while another 10% of the recruitment occurred during a second storm event. Short-term variability in wind-driven currents is a possible mechanism behind the significant interannual variability of many fish species. -from Authors