To generate estimates of annual larval supply at different sampling intervals, the daily supply data were subsampled at intervals of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 days because these intervals were the simulated sampling intervals used in Hettler et al.
Sampling at intervals longer in duration than the wind or tide-driven processes that underlie fluctuations in larval supply could result in high variability in estimates of annual supply.
Table 1 Sampling intervals, numbers of possible comparisons between annual estimates of blue crab (Callinectes sapi dus) larval supply and catch per unit of effort in the North Carolina blue crab fishery (N), percentages of compari sons with significant correlations (type-1 error [[alpha]]=0.05 coefficient of correlation [r]>0.69), modes of correlation coefficients, and differences between the lowest and high est values of correlation coefficients in this study to evalu ate the effect of sampling at intervals of 1-7 days on the variability of estimates of annual larval supply derived from an 11-year record of blue crab megalopal settlement.