Abstract. The onshore move- 

 ment of settlement-stage bonefish, 

 Albula vulpes, leptocephali was moni- 

 tored over four consecutive winters 

 ( 1990-91 to 1993-94) and summer 1992 

 near Lee Stocking Island, Exuma Cays, 

 Bahamas. Total catch over the four win- 

 ters ranged from 316 to 1,421 fish per 

 70-day sampling period, whereas 1,112 

 were taken during the single 72-day 

 summer sampling period. An analysis 

 of otoliths from 87 fish collected dur- 

 ing the last winter indicated continu- 

 ous spawning activity during the fall 

 and early winter and an estimated lar- 

 val duration of 41 to 71 days. The col- 

 lection of larvae in summer 1992 sug- 

 gested that spawning continues until 

 late spring. Virtually all recruiting lep- 

 tocephali were collected at night and 

 in the upper 1 m of the water column. 

 Time-series analysis of the four winters 

 linked together by lunar date revealed 

 a strong cyclical pattern of recruitment, 

 with a period of 30 days, and a strong 

 association with the number of hours 

 of flood tide occurring under dark, 

 moonless conditions. The one major 

 peak in the summer samples occurred 

 during the first 12 days of sampling 

 when the hours of dark flood tide was 

 at its maximum level for the month; 

 subsequent dark periods had low lev- 

 els of recruitment. There were no 

 strong associations between recruit- 

 ment levels and wind and current pat- 

 terns. These data suggest that the cy- 

 clical pattern in hours of dark flood tide 

 creates "windows of opportunity" for 

 the leptocephali to move onshore at 

 times that minimize their vulnerabil- 

 ity to visual predators in reefs and 

 seagrass beds. 



Recruitment of bonefish, 



Albula vulpes, around 



Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas 



Raymond Mojica Jr. 



East Volusia County Mosquito Control District 

 1 600 Aviation Center Parkway 

 Daytona Beach, Florida 32114 



Jonathan M. Shenker 

 Christopher W. Harnden* 

 Daniel E. Wagner 



Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology 

 1 50 West University Boulevard 

 Melbourne, Florida 32901 



Manuscript accepted 15 December 1994. 

 Fishery Bulletin 93:666-674 ( 1995). 



The bonefish, Albula vulpes, is 

 found in the tropical western Atlan- 

 tic and supports substantial recre- 

 ational fisheries in south Florida, 

 the Bahamas, and many Caribbean 

 islands. Despite their importance as 

 a sport fish, there is little quantita- 

 tive information available about the 

 abundance of adults in different lo- 

 cations, the temporal trends in popu- 

 lation sizes, and the recruitment pro- 

 cesses that may have a considerable 

 influence on the size and spatial dis- 

 tribution of adult populations. 



Adult bonefish typically inhabit 

 shallow sand and seagrass flats, of- 

 ten in water less than half a meter 

 deep, and feed on crabs, bivalves, 

 shrimp, and small benthic fishes 

 (Bruger, 1974; Colton and Alevizon, 

 1983). Some information on the sea- 

 sonality of reproduction is available, 

 but the temporal and spatial scales 

 of spawning activity or spawning 

 behavior itself have not been de- 

 scribed. In the Florida Keys, spawn- 

 ing occurs from October to May. 1 

 Examination of gonads of fishes col- 

 lected in the Bahamas indicated 

 that fish in spawning condition also 

 predominated between October and 

 May, although some ripe fish were 

 found throughout the year. 2 



In the pelagic environment, 

 Albula leptocephalous larvae grow 

 to lengths of up to 70 mm prior to 

 settlement. On the basis of the tem- 

 poral occurrence of ripe females and 

 the subsequent appearance of meta- 

 morphosing leptocephali, Pfeiler et 

 al. (1988) proposed a larval dura- 

 tion of six to seven months for Al- 

 bula sp. from the Gulf of California. 

 As the leptocephali move from off- 

 shore to the shallow nursery and 

 adult habitats, their length de- 

 creases approximately 509r during 

 their metamorphosis into juveniles. 

 Pfeiler (1984) investigated the 

 movement of Albula sp. leptocephali 

 as they entered a hypersaline la- 

 goon (estero) in the Gulf of Califor- 

 nia. Although sampling was limited 

 to 15-20 minute periods of flood tide 

 on 33 nights from February through 

 May, Pfeiler suggested that larvae 



Coaffiliated with the Florida Department 

 of Environmental Protection, 328 West 

 Hibiscus Boulevard, FIT/ARL Building, 

 Room 120. Melbourne, FL 32901 



1 Crabtree, R. E. 1994. Florida Depart- 

 ment of Environmental Protection, Marine 

 Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL. 

 Personal commun. 



2 Colton, D. E. 1994. 27395 Vista Del 

 Toro Road, Salinas, CA. Personal commun. 



666 



