Distribution of pelagic larvae of bottom invertebrates of the Norwegian and Barents Seas

The distribution of pelagic larvae, juvenile and epitoquous stages of shallow shelf bottom invertebrates, in the plankton of the Norwegian and Barents Seas is largely determined by the distribution of the respective parental forms. The various currents influence the distribution only secondarily and to a rather limited extent. Most larvae remain in the water masses above the zones inhabited by their parents. Thus their large scale distribution in the plankton is determined primarily by the ecological and zoogeographical patierns of distribution of the parental life cycle stages. Such dependence of larval distributions on the distribution of adults in the benthos is assumed to represent a general pattern in all shallow regions of the world oceans.