Plankton nets revealed a relatively stable cross-lagoon pattern, with (1) a distinctive nearshore component characterized by gobiids, callionymids, leiognathids and teraponids; (2) a cross-lagoon group including nemipterids, carangids, platycephalids and scorpaenids; and (3) an outer-lagoon assemblage dominated by clupeids, lutjanids, pomacentrids, and scombrids. Light trap catches were much more ephemeral than those from the plankton nets, and were dominated by collections at a single station in October. Numbers of principal taxa at this station were variable on each of the three sampling occasions during the month. The most numerous taxa, Pomacentrus spp., were captured in high numbers on all of the three nights. Multi-specific patches of reef fish larvae were characteristic only of late-larval and pelagic juvenile stages. Patch generation may, therefore, be due to active aggregation rather than passive accumulation of larvae.