The influence of environmental conditions on the relative abundance of Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna) and Thunnus obesus (bigeye tuna) were investigated to determine the extent of the early life stage suitable habitat of these species in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Thunnus albacares and T. obesus larvae were commonly found (31–50% frequency of occurrence per year) in the northern GoM (26–28°N, 91–96°W), and a significant intra- and inter-annual variability in abundance of T. albacares and T. obesus was observed with higher abundance recorded in July surveys (1.3 larvae 1000 m⁻³ for both species) and during the Summer 2009 (1.9 and 1.7 larvae 1000 m⁻³, respectively). Generalized additive models (GAMs) indicated that larvae of T. albacares and T. obesus were more common and at higher abundance in water masses with moderate to high salinity (28–36), high temperature (29 °C), positive sea surface height. Species-specific environmental preferences determined with GAMs were then combined with summer environmental data over eight years (2007 to 2015) to predict the spatial coverage of suitable habitat of both species in regions beyond the 100-m isobath. Habitat suitability predictions indicated that the location and extent of highly suitable habitat of T. albacares and T. obesus larvae varied across years with the highest areal coverage in 2015 (70%) and 2010 (73%), respectively. Both T. albacares and T. obesus larvae were more commonly observed and at higher abundance off the continental slope and at margins of the Loop Current and associated warm-core eddies in the northern GoM. Because changes in environmental conditions influenced the spatio-temporal distribution of T. albacares and T. obesus larvae, habitat suitability models are valuable tools for identifying critical areas of the GoM inhabited by tuna larvae and this information can also be used to assess potential impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the recruitment and population dynamics of tunas.

对的相对丰度的环境条件的影响黄鳍金枪鱼（黄鳍金枪鱼）和大眼金枪鱼（大眼金枪鱼）进行了研究，以确定这些物种在墨西哥湾（GOM）早期寿命阶段合适的栖息地的程度。在北部GoM（26–28°N，91–96°W）北部，经常发现白鳍金枪鱼（Thunnus albacares）和obes。T. obesus幼虫（每年发生频率31–50％），而该区域的年内和年际变化很大。在7月的调查中（两个物种的1300幼体1000 m ^-3）和2009年夏季（1.9和1.7的1000幼体）中观察到的T. albacares和T. obesus的丰度较高。^-3）。广义相加模型（GAMS）表示的幼虫T.鳍金枪鱼和T.金枪鱼较多见，并在更高的丰度在水团以中到高盐度（28-36），高温（29℃），正海面高度。然后，将利用GAM确定的特定于物种的环境偏好与过去8年（2007年至2015年）的夏季环境数据相结合，以预测100米等压线以上区域中两种物种的合适栖息地的空间覆盖率。生境适应性预测表明，T。albacares和T. obesus高度适宜的栖息地的位置和程度幼虫的年份各不相同，分别在2015年（70％）和2010年（73％）最高。两个T.黄鳍金枪鱼和T.金枪鱼幼虫更普遍观察到，并在丰富的高离大陆坡和在墨西哥湾北部环流的利润和相关的暖核漩涡。由于环境条件的变化影响了白金龟幼虫和小叶红锥虫幼虫的时空分布，栖息地适应性模型是识别金枪鱼幼虫所居住的GoM关键区域的宝贵工具，该信息还可用于评估金枪鱼幼虫的潜在影响。自然和人为干扰对金枪鱼的招募和种群动态。