Mahi-mahi embryo trajectories with exposure to irradiance modeled by the Connectivity Model System (CMS), from 2013-01-01 to 2013-12-29

We address the ecological relevance of the seemingly adaptive response of UV avoidance in mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) by developing a module for the Connectivity Modeling System (CMS, an open-source particle tracking model) to estimate the dose of solar radiations embryos receive while moving in the ocean. Calculations are based on the intensity of the surface irradiance, the coefficient of absorption of the wavelength considered, and the embryos’ depth at each Lagrangian time step. In the model, embryos were released throughout the year, between the surface and 100 m depth to encompass a wide range of potential spawning depth preferences, and the laboratory hourly measurements of terminal velocity were used to determine embryo buoyancy through time. Each virtual embryo was tracked for 44 hours, the maximum time to hatch based on the minimum surface water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico (ca. 20°C).

This dataset contains the raw trajectories of the numerical modeling results from three simulations of mahi embryo dispersal using the CMS module introduced above: "Neutral" (for neutrally buoyant embryos), "no UV" (only exposed to visible light) and "UV-exposed" (exposed to visible light and UV-A during the first day of development), and provides the location and depth at each time step, along with the doses of ultraviolet-A for each of them. This research was funded by the RECOVER and C-IMAGE grants from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.

Related datasets model cumulative exposure to yellowfin tuna (DOI: 10.7266/S83DZF9V, UDI: R6.x804.000:0055) and virtual organisms employing diurnal migration in a number of regimes in the world ocean DOIi: 10.7266/X8GVY03Y, UDI: R6.x804.000:0054). NOTE: Due to the size of its single file, this dataset cannot be opened by most Windows (Excel, Notepad, Notepad++).