title: Ontogenetic loops in habitat use highlight the importance of littoral habitats for early life-stages of oceanic fishes in temperate waters.
abstract: General concepts of larval fish ecology in temperate oceans predominantly associate dispersal and survival to exogenous mechanisms such as passive drift along ocean currents. However, for tropical reef fish larvae and species in inland freshwater systems behavioural aspects of habitat selection are evidently important components of dispersal. This study is focused on larval Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) distribution in a Baltic Sea retention area, free of lunar tides and directed current regimes, considered as a natural mesocosm. A Lorenz curve originally applied in socio-economics to describe demographic income distribution was adapted to a 20 year time-series of weekly larval herring distribution, revealing size-dependent spatial homogeneity. Additional quantitative sampling of distinct larval development stages across pelagic and littoral areas uncovered a loop in habitat use during larval ontogeny, revealing a key role of shallow littoral waters. With increasing rates of coastal change, our findings emphasize the importance of the littoral zone when considering reproduction of pelagic, ocean-going fish species; highlighting a need for more sensitive management of regional coastal zones.
authors.affiliation: Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Alter Hafen Süd 2, 18069 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Polte
authors.affiliation: Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Alter Hafen Süd 2, 18069 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kotterba
authors.affiliation: Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Alter Hafen Süd 2, 18069 Rostock, Germany.|Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, University of Hamburg, Olbersweg 24, 22767 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.affiliation: Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Alter Hafen Süd 2, 18069 Rostock, Germany.|Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, University of Hamburg, Olbersweg 24, 22767 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: von Nordheim
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages