FROM THE OCEAN TO A REEF HABITAT: HOW DO THE LARVAE OF CORAL REEF FISHES FIND THEIR WAY HOME? A STATE OF ART ON THE LATEST ADVANCES

As it is unlikely that successful settlement is solely a matter of chance (i.e. to find a suitable habitat), one of the greatest challenges facing the fish larvae is how to locate the relatively rare patches of coral reef habitat on which they settle and ultimately reside as adults. The answer must lie partly in the sensory modalities of fishes at settlement. Habitat selection is only possible if fish larvae could detect some environmental cues to select a suitable reef habitat at settlement. The present review aims at providing the latest works dealing with information perception in coral reef fish larvae at settlement. We hypothesize that as the stability of fish communities is dependent, in part, on the stability of social interactions, the disruption of "larvae-habitat relationships" can have major consequences for larval settlement into adult population with further repercussions for the ecosystem as a whole. Moreover, understanding the relationship between reef state and settlement potential will allow management planning for the maintenance of coral reefs that are increasingly degraded.