The composition and spatial variability of ichthyoplankton assemblages were investigated at three shallow seamounts between latitudes 19°S and 33°S in the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) – La Pérouse (60 m), an unnamed pinnacle south of Madagascar, referred to hereafter as MAD-Ridge (240 m), and the Walters Shoal seamount (18 m). In all, 299 larvae (23 families, 54 species) were present at La Pérouse, 964 larvae (58 families and 127 species) at MAD-Ridge, and 129 larvae (9 families, 24 species) at the Walters Shoal. Larvae of mesopelagic fish in the families Myctophidae and Gonostomatidae were the most dominant at all three seamounts. All developmental stages were present at each seamount, suggesting the larval pelagic phase of certain species occurs at the seamounts. A ‘seamount effect’ was detected only at MAD-Ridge where larval fish densities were significantly higher at summit stations. Overall, MAD-Ridge had much higher densities of fish larvae (157.0 larvae 100 m⁻³) than La Pérouse (31.1 larvae 100 m⁻³) and the Walters Shoal (9.6 larvae 100 m⁻³). Our study demonstrates that ichthyoplankton communities at shallow seamounts in the SWIO are more influenced by their location relative to a landmass, and to oceanographic features such as currents, mesoscale eddies and water masses than the seamount latitude and topography itself.

在印度洋西南部（SWIO）–马达加斯加以南的未命名峰顶LaPérouse（60 m）的19°S和33°S纬度之间的三个浅海山上，研究了浮游鱼类组合的组成和空间变异性。如MAD-Ridge（240 m）和Walters Shoal海山（18 m）。在拉佩鲁斯（LaPérouse），共有299个幼虫（23个科，54种），在MAD-Ridge共有964个幼虫（58个科和127种），在沃尔特斯浅滩有129个幼虫（9个科，24个物种）。在三个海山中，Myctophidae和Gonostomatidae科的中生鱼类的幼虫是最主要的。每个海山都有所有发育阶段，表明某些物种的幼体上浮期发生在海山上。仅在MAD-Ridge处检测到“海山效应”，在MAD-Ridge处，登顶站的幼鱼密度显着较高。总体而言，MAD-Ridge的鱼类幼虫密度更高（157.0幼虫100 m^-3）比LaPérouse（31.1幼虫100 m ^-3）和Walters Shoal（9.6幼虫100 m ^-3）更高。我们的研究表明，与海山纬度和地形本身相比，SWIO中浅海山峰处的鱼鳞浮游生物群落受其相对于陆地的位置以及洋流，中尺度涡旋和水团等海洋学特征的影响更大。