Millimeter-scale topography facilitates coral larval settlement in wave-driven oscillatory flow.

ABSTRACT: Larval settlement in wave-dominated, nearshore environments is the most critical life stage for a vast array of marine invertebrates, yet it is poorly understood and virtually impossible to observe in situ. Using a custom-built flume tank that mimics the oscillatory fluid flow over a shallow coral reef, we isolated the effect of millimeter-scale benthic topography and showed that it increases the settlement of slow-swimming coral larvae by an order of magnitude relative to flat substrates. Particle tracking velocimetry of flow fields revealed that millimeter-scale ridges introduced regions of flow recirculation that redirected larvae toward the substrate surface and decreased the local fluid speed, effectively increasing the window of time for larvae to settle. Regions of recirculation wer

SUBMITTER: Levenstein MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9467362 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature