The distribution of fish larvae and other planktonic organisms is highly heterogenous and influenced by a complex interplay of physical, behavioural and ecological processes operating across different scales. Information on patterns and scale of resulting patchiness in plankton distributions is pivotal for understanding the bio‐physical linkages, trophodynamics and ecological strategies in the marine pelagic environment. In th...

Clupeid fish species are widely distributed and of highly variable stock sizes. In the North Sea, the common clupeid species are herring ( Clupea harengus ) and sprat ( Sprattus sprattus ), but during recent decades, the generally more southerly distributed sardine ( Sardina pilchardus ) have been more frequently observed. Comparative studies of early life stages of small pelagic clupeids are scarce, and their abilities to co‐...

Several aspects of the biology of European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) larvae are still unknown; particularly, information about their functional development and feeding is sparse. In the present study, we histologically characterize the digestive system of wild caught specimens of European eel leptocephalus larvae. The aim was to provide more understanding about how food may be ingested and mechanically processed in the leptoce...

Marine zooplankton are among the most diverse and abundant organisms on earth. Despite a great wealth of knowledge and research on their ecology, the processes promoting coexistence and maintaining their high diversity worldwide are poorly known. In order to understand the processes underpinning coexistence among marine zooplankton, we investigated the existence and degree of niche separation within two pairs of taxonomically...

The European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) spawns in the Sargasso Sea, and the leptocephalus larvae are distributed in the Subtropical Convergence Zone (STCZ), covering an area approximately 500 × 2,000 km in extent. The STCZ is hydrographically diverse and highly dynamic, which is likely to impact growth and survival opportunities of the larvae. Here we investigate the temporal and spatial growth rate variability of larvae collec...

Size, growth, and density have been studied for North American Pacific coast sea urchins Strongylocentrotus purpuratus , S. droebachiensis, S. polyacanthus , Mesocentrotus (Strongylocentrotus) franciscanus , Lytechinus pictus , Centrostephanus coronatus , and Arbacia stellata by various workers at diverse sites and for varying lengths of time from 1956 to present. Numerous peer‐reviewed publications have used some of these dat...

Specific regions of otherwise oligotrophic oceans seem to attract fish spawning and sustain significant abundances of fish larvae. The Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre is known as the spawning area of the Atlantic eels, but numerous other fish species also spawn in the area. In order to evaluate spatial variability of larval fish in the region, we examined species diversity, composition and abundances at eig...

A parasitological investigation was performed on a total of 5380 Atlantic cod larvae, post-larvae and small juveniles sampled from the North Sea during a period of five years. The copepod Caligus elongatus (Von Nordmann, 1832) and the nematode Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802) were found at a relatively high prevalence of infection (4.6% and 5.2%, respectively). The infection by both parasites showed annual and spatial...

Data from a long time series of temperature, salinity, and nutrient measurements in Disko Bay (West Greenland) reveal a marked change in the water characteristics during recent years. Seasonal dynamics in the upper 150 m of the water column were highly affected by the seasonality in meteorological conditions, while the deeper water strata were more stable and were primarily influenced by large‐scale circulation patterns. There...

European eels ( Anguilla anguilla ) spawn in the remote Sargasso Sea in partial sympatry with American eels ( Anguilla rostrata ), and juveniles are transported more than 5000 km back to the European and North African coasts. The two species have been regarded as classic textbook examples of panmixia, each comprising a single, randomly mating population. However, several recent studies based on continental samples have found s...

Spawning of fishes takes place across a wide area of the North Sea. However, more intense spawning is seen in restricted areas, indicating that such areas present favorable conditions. To update information on fish spawning in the North Sea and analyze potential linkages to hydrographic characteristics, an internationally coordinated survey was conducted in the winter/spring of 2004. Oblique hauls for fish eggs and larvae and...