Dataset: Florida Straits 2014 & 2015 MOC4 Spatial Larval Fish Community

Larval fishes were collected at each station using a Multiple Opening Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS, http://www.whoi.edu/instruments/viewInstrument.do?id=10008) with a 4m2 opening and 1mm mesh nets (MOC4). To capture larval fishes and mesozooplankton on a fine horizontal spatial scale, we sequentially fired each MOCNESS net every ~125-500m. Traveling at a speed of 2 m s-1 each MOC4 net sampled ~500-2600 m3. We fired a total of five nets per tow. One net was open from the surface to depth (net zero), and four nets sampled discrete depths. At every station, this fine-scale net sampling was repeated with two MOC4 tows at 15m, 30m, and 60m (2014 only) depth (randomized order), thus eight replicate tows per depth. Once onboard, the nets were rinsed with seawater and the contents of each cod end immediately preserved in 95% ethanol.

All larval fishes were separated out of the samples, identified to the lowest possible taxonomic grouping following Richards (2005), and measured using a dissecting microscope.