One of the most important tasks for marine biologists interested in fish populations in the world's oceans is to understand how fish species become distributed, how fishes survive the exingencies of marine environments, and how the abundances of fish populations are regulated. At the center of this problem is comprehensive knowledge of the most vulnerable stage in the life history of a fish: its larval form. This project deals with the world's best documented and largest collection of larval fishes of the Atlantic Ocean, collected over two decades. As such, this research collection represents a very valuable research resource, since numerous scientists from the U.S.A., Canada and Europe will depend on it for continuous reference. Because the collection was made over such a long period of time, it will give scientists a unique opportunity to study fundamental changes in the nature of speciescomposition and abundance. Such changes may be related to various environmental factors and will enable fishery biologists to anticipate changes in the abundance of commercially important fishes. Because fish larvae exhibit numerous features of interest to biologists studying the developmental patterns of various organ systems, the collection will play a key role in furnishing the necessary developmental stages of fish species which are not accessible without extensive and costly oceanic exploration. Fish larvae form a significant component of the zooplankton and their distributional patterns reflect major oceancurrents and their dynamics. The larval fish collection will indirectly aid oceanographers with a historical perspective of the dynamics of zooplankton distributions.
