1. Benthic marine invertebrates, such as oysters, rely on larval recruitment for their populations to persist. This can be by self‐recruitment to the natal population or recruitment from geographically distant populations.
2. Marine invertebrate larvae are increasingly understood to influence their dispersal through vertical migrations, based on a combination of responses to external cues and the larvae's ontogenetic stage.
3. This study examined the larval behaviour of the European oyster Ostrea edulis in laboratory experiments. The aim was to establish if larvae show systematic behaviour that could affect dispersal. Vertical distribution, swimming speeds, and behaviour of O. edulis larvae were quantified throughout their ontogenetic development, and under scenarios of light/dark, food/no food, and two temperatures.
4. Most O. edulis larvae concentrated at the bottom of the aquarium, independent of developmental stage or treatment, and consistently over time. Larvae behaved actively in ~50% of all bottom observations, indicating a behavioural function other than resting. At the surface, larvae frequently formed aggregations. In the water column, larvae swam with high vertical directionality and their distribution was homogenous. Swimming speeds ranged from 0.001 to 9.07 mm s⁻¹.
5. Advection close to the seabed is slower than in any other part of the water column. The demersal preference of O. edulis may be targeted towards increasing the likelihood of self‐recruitment, which is consistent with the larvae's preference to settle in the presence of conspecifics. Stronger hydrodynamic environments are likely to override the larvae's demersal behaviour. It is recommended to restore European oyster beds at sufficient scale, density, and rugosity to promote retention of larvae within the natal population and minimize larval loss and mortality, as well as to account for the observed behaviours in networks of restoration sites.

中文翻译：

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返回寄件人：幼虫行为对欧洲牡蛎可食牡蛎分布和沉降的影响

1. 像牡蛎这样的底栖海洋无脊椎动物依靠幼体招募来维持种群。可以通过自行招募出生人口或从地理上较远的人口招募来实现。
2. 人们逐渐认识到海洋无脊椎动物幼虫会通过对外部线索的响应和幼虫的成虫阶段的组合，通过垂直迁移影响它们的扩散。
3. 这项研究在实验室实验中检查了欧洲牡蛎可食牡蛎的幼虫行为。目的是确定幼虫是否表现出可能影响扩散的系统行为。在整个发育过程中，以及在明/暗，食物/不食物和两个温度的情况下，定量分析了食用牡蛎幼虫的垂直分布，游泳速度和行为。
4. 大多数可食的O. edulis幼虫都集中在水族箱的底部，与发育阶段或治疗无关，并且随着时间的流逝始终如一。在大约50％的底部观察中，幼虫表现活跃，表明其行为功能不同于休息。在表面，幼虫经常形成聚集体。在水柱中，幼虫游动时具有较高的垂直方向性，并且它们的分布是均匀的。游泳速度在0.001至9.07mm s ^-1之间。
5. 靠近海床的对流速度比水柱其他任何部分都要慢。美味的O. edulis可能倾向于增加自我招募的可能性，这与幼虫在特定物种存在下的定居相一致。较强的水动力环境可能会取代幼虫的沉水行为。建议以足够的规模，密度和皱纹度恢复欧洲牡蛎床，以促进幼虫在新生种群中的保留，并使幼虫的损失和死亡率降到最低，并考虑到在恢复地点网络中观察到的行为。