Dispersal during early life stages is a critical process shaping marine fish connectivity and population dynamics, yet direct field observations at the individual level remain elusive. This has limited our understanding of the factors controlling dispersal, including the impact of active swimming by larvae and juveniles. Here, we present a new method to reconstruct ontogenetic vertical and horizontal movements of fish on conti...

The Japanese sardine ( Sardinops sagax melanostictus ) is a small pelagic fish found in the Sea of Japan, the marginal sea of the western North Pacific. It is an important species for regional fisheries, but their dispersal and migration patterns during early life stages remain unclear. In this study, we analyzed the stable oxygen isotope ratios of otoliths of young-of-the-year (age 0) Japanese sardines collected from the nort...