Recruitment of Infauna: Positive or Negative Cues?

Abstract

The current paradigm for recruitment invokes passive transport of the larva in the water column followed by larval choice of habitat after deposition of the larva on or near the bottom. Larval choice is typically considered to be based on positive cues. I argue herein that the evidence for emphasizing rejection of substrata by negative cues is at least as compelling as that for acceptance by positive cues. Data from the literature on costs of rejection of settlement sites, types of emigration by larvae and/or juveniles, and criteria by which infaunal larvae and/or juveniles reject habitats are used to support this thes.