Mechanisms affecting recruitment patterns of fish and decapods in tropical coastal ecosystems

Abstract

The early benthic life history of fishes and decapods in tropical coastal ecosystem can be partitioned into three main stages-settlement, post-settlement transition, post-settlement stage-which culminate in recruitment. Although most species go through these early life history stages, not all species follow the same strategy. Life history strategies occur in three general categories: habitat specialists, habitat generalists, and ontogenetic shifters. Despite this variation in life history strategy, common processes affect the early life history stages of tropical marine fishes and decapods. The life history transition from planktonic larva to benthic post-larva connects oceanic and coastal habitats. However, benthic features and benthic processes affect early life history stages so that settlement and post-settlement distributions are not perfect reflections of larval supply patterns. The abundances and distributions of settlement and post-settlement life history stages result from complex interactions of larval supply, larval behavior, and the interactions of early settlers with the benthic environment. Since much of the very high mortality that occurs during settlement and early post-settlement appears to be due to predation, the direct effects of predators may be the most important factors acting on these early life history stages. Habitat selection, priority effects, predator avoidance, inter-and intra-specific competition, and aggression during and after settlement are also important influences on abundances and distributions of settlement and post-settlement fishes and decapods. The connection between nursery habitat availability and adult population abundances has been demonstrated, so it is likely that these other interactions of early life history stages with the benthic environment have demographic implications that are not yet understood. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.