Journal article
Species-level connections between larval fish and copepods revealed through ocean observing
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol.83, pp.1-15
2026
Abstract
Despite direct trophic links between larval fish and zooplankton, the two communities are rarely analysed together in taxonomic detail. As a result, important relationships between larval fish and prey species are yet to be resolved. This study uses a 7 year ocean observing dataset to explore possible relationships between 68 larval fish species and 156 copepod species from three coastal sites off eastern Australia. Two contrasting methods of network analysis were used to identify statistical linkages between larval fish and copepod species. The abundances of seven common larval fish species were modelled using key outcomes of the network analyses, of which four larval fish species showed significant relationships with specific copepod density. Densities of copepod species were consistently better predictors of specific larval fish abundance than total zooplankton biomass. Abundant copepods, Paracalanus indicus and Euterpina acutifrons, have potential for influencing the recruitment of larval Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax). Our statistical approach provides a context for generating ecological hypotheses about larval fishes, which are realistically based on species-specific interactions between predators and prey during this critical period.
Details
- Title
- Species-level connections between larval fish and copepods revealed through ocean observing
- Authors
- Josh Esman (Corresponding Author) - UNSW SydneyHayden T. Schilling (Author) - UNSW SydneyAnthony G. Miskiewicz (Author) - Australian MuseumIan Suthers (Author) - UNSW Sydney
- Additional notes
- This paper is part of a collection dedicated to the work of Daniel Boisclair for which a symposium was held at the 2023 meeting of the Society of Canadian Aquatic Sciences in Montreal, Canada, to recognize his scientific contributions.
- Publication details
- Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol.83, pp.1-15
- Publisher
- Canadian Science Publishing
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1139/cjfas-2025-0182
- ISSN
- 1205-7533
- Copyright note
- © 2026 Authors Esman, Miskiewicz, and Suthers; and The Crown. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
- Data Availability
- Data were sourced from Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) through the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) portal (https://portal.aodn.org.au/search). The specific datasets used in this research are available in the associated Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18218300).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991249800002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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