The influence of a flood plume associated with Cyclone Joy on larval fish assemblages in the central Great Barrier Reef

Between the 19th and 25th January 1991, ichthyoplankton were collected using a plankton net within and adjacent to the flood plume resulting from rainfall associated with Cyclone Joy.Sampling was conducted during daylight to enable location of the plume front. Three replicate tows were made on each of five occasions within three locations (on and parallel to the plume front, 3km within the plume and outside the plume front).Larval fish were removed from samples and identified to family level under a dissecting microscope. Sampling was undertaken to investigate the influence on larval fish assemblages of a transient plume resulting from freshwater runoff associated with cyclonic rains. Cyclone Joy crossed the Queensland coast on 26th December 1990 near Townsville, where it degenerated into a tropical depression.Sampling was conducted along the transect described in the metadata record "Zooplankton community structure and copepod egg production in coastal waters of the central Great Barrier Reef", which refers to data described in the papers:Thorrold SR and McKinnon AD (1992) Biological significance of the coastal boundary layer off Townsville, North Queensland. pp. 104-109. In: Larval biology, Australian Society of Fish Biology, Workshop, Hobart, 20 August 1991. Bureau of Rural Resources Proceedings, No.15. Australian Government Publishing Service.McKinnon AD and Thorrold SR (1993) Zooplankton community structure and copepod egg production in coastal waters of the central Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. Journal of Plankton Research 15: 1387-1411.