Erratum

Abstract

The fine- to coarse-scale distribution patterns of tuna larvae in the east Indian Ocean were investigated by a combination of continuous transect sampling using surface tows and random sampling using double oblique tows. Thunnus maccoyii was the most abundant species, reaching densities near patch centres of ∼22 m −3 in surface tows, which is 25 times greater than the highest previous records for tuna larvae. Patches of T maccoyii larvae in areas of high abundance appeared to be ∼5–15 km in diameter. Smaller patches in areas of low abundance were usually composed of older larvae Lloyd's index of patchiness was consistently high for all tuna species, ranging from 3.0 to 5.2 for T.maccoyii . There was no change in the index when tow distance was doubled to 1200 m, which suggests that the dominant patch size was somewhat larger than the larger sampling interval. Sampling larvae at the same site 4 days apart resulted in estimates of abundance that differed by an order of magnitude. Abundance estimated from a single station would depend largely on what day the station was occupied and where the sample was taken in relation to a patch.