Larval fishes and zooplankton in a cyclonic eddy in Hawaiian waters

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Abstract
A cold-core eddy occurred off the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii in July 1982. It remained in that area for ˜70 days, sufficient time for many reef fish species to complete their planktonic larval phase. The deployment of eight current drogues in the eddy showed how entrainment of plankton from the reef and adjacent offshore waters can occur and that passive drift can return drifters from the deep sea to shore. Larval fishes may be swept past the island every 7–8 days in a weak eddy and 3.5–5 days in a strong eddy. Plankton collections were made at night near the surface and at the same depth as the current drogues. Zooplankton were most concentrated at the eddy center. Taxonomic analysis of the plankton showed that the dominant animals were calanoid copepods, malacostracans, hyperud amphipods, gastropod and bivalve larvae and chaetognaths. The densities of zooplankton and larval fishes in the eddy were higher than in the same area before the arrival of an eddy. Larval fishes were most abundant in the periphery and among these, midwater fish larvae (gonostomatids and myctophids) were the most numerous. Other numerous fish larvae in the eddy included scombrids, particularly Thunnus albacares . carangids and the reef fish, Abudefduf abdominalis is (Pomacentridae).

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