Concentration and condition of American lobster postlarvae in small-scale convergences

Invertebrate larvae are often abundant in the surface ocean, which plays a key role in their dispersal and connectivity. Pelagic microhabitats characterized by small-scale hydrographic variability are complex and ubiquitous in the coastal ocean, but their study is challenging, and they have been largely neglected in meroplankton ecology. Surface convergences, i.e., surface microhabitats featuring convergent horizontal currents, may aggregate the last larval stage of the American lobster and could provide shelter and food for Stage IV postlarvae and thus enhance their condition. We tested these hypotheses by conducting a series of cruises in the southwestern Gulf of Maine in summer 2021, sampling 15 paired sets of potential convergences and off-convergence unstructured habitat. We measured postlarval abundance, surface hydrography, acoustic backscatter, and circulation. Experiments and image analysis compared condition, color, and morphology of postlarvae sampled inside and outside potential convergences. Potential convergences varied in near-surface hydrographic patterns, with most displaying consistency among two transects and diverse patterns in salinity and temperature (e.g., across-convergence gradients with equal or different signs). While the highest postlarval abundances were found in convergences, abundance patterns on and off convergences were not consistent, and another analysis indicated higher abundance in convergences than in a 7-year untargeted surface ocean data set. Experiments indicated no survivorship differences among convergence and non-convergence individuals at two temperatures, while image analyses revealed differences in color and size. Physical measurements and qualitative neuston community analyses indicated substantial heterogeneity among potential convergences. Our results reinforce that small-scale heterogeneities are highly variable but important to the ecology of meroplankton, including the pelagic and neustonic habitats where lobster postlarvae are abundant.