Larval Fish EcologyMarine fish larvae develop for days to months in the upper water column where, due to their tiny size, they were once expected to disperse widely with ocean currents. However, recent studies using genetic techniques have revealed that many larvae stay within 1 km of their home reef. Efforts to identify where larvae are distributed during early development have been hampered by the minute morphological characteristics that differentiate closely related species. To better understand the role of physical and biological processes in shaping patterns of larval dispersal, the Majoris Lab is using DNA barcoding and Metabarcoding techniques to resolve species level patterns of larval fish distribution and abundance around coral reefs.
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