Swimming ability of the larvae of some reef fishes from New Zealand waters

Abstract

Larval fish, caught in good condition in light traps, were obliged to swim at 13.5 cm s ^–1 in a flume chamber without food or rest. Five species were strong swimmers capable of swimming for at least several days. Scorpis lineolatus (Scorpidae), swam longer than the others: >400 h on average (~200 km) with one individual swimming for 559 h (271 km). The other two reef species, Upeneichthys lineatus (Mullidae) and Parika scaber (Monacanthidae), swam ~100 h (~50 km) on average. Two non-reef carangids were also tested for comparison with the reef fishes: Trachurus sp. and a single Pseudocaranx dentex swam ~30 km and 82 km, respectively. These results add to the growing body of evidence that fish larvae should not be treated as passive particles.