Cross-shelf and vertical structure of ichthyoplankton assemblages in continental shelf waters of the Southern Gulf of Mexico

The horizontal and vertical variation of ichthyoplankton assemblages in continental shelf waters of the Southern Gulf of Mexico was studied during an annual cycle (1994–1995) at 22 stations distributed across four transects located off the main fluvio-lagoon systems of the area. Samples were collected from five levels of the water column, from the surface to a depth of 105 m. The Bray–Curtis Dissimilarity Index identified five assemblages: Coastal, Inner Neritic, Outer Neritic, Oceanic and a Transition Group. The main species of each assemblage reflected the habitat, season, and spawning area of adult organisms. The Coastal Assemblage occupied the uppermost water column levels of the most nearshore stations. The Oceanic Assemblage was restricted to the deepest samplings of the stations of the outer shelf and the Neritic Assemblages were located on the continental shelf between the Coastal and Oceanic Assemblages, embracing all the sampling levels in some periods. Variation in composition, location and abundance of larvae in each assemblage was determined by a series of physical processes that act at different temporal and spatial scales, especially the mixing process generated by the wind stress and continental water discharges acting at a mesoscale that influences the distribution of the assemblages along the whole continental shelf as well as a fine scale affecting the composition and vertical distribution of organisms in a more reduced area of just tens of meters in the water column. Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed that the depth of the sample, the potential energy, and the temperature generated the greatest variability in the system. Vertical and horizontal salinity gradients play a determinant role in delimiting the Coastal and Neritic Assemblages.