Seasonal variations in diversity and abundance of ... - Springer Link

Acta Oceanol. Sin., 2014, Vol. 33, No. 12, P. 145–154 DOI: 10.1007/s13131-014-0533-3 http://www.hyxb.org.cn E-mail: hyxbe@263.net

Seasonal variations in diversity and abundance of surface ichthyoplankton in the northern South China Sea LI Kaizhi1, YIN Jianqiang1*, HUANG Liangmin1, LIN Zhaojin2 1

Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China 2 South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510300, China Received 5 September 2013; accepted 7 July 2014 ©The Chinese Society of Oceanography and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the seasonal variations of ichthyoplankton diversity and abundance in the northern South China Sea based on the data collected during summer, winter and spring. In total, 95 taxa of larval fishes were identified. The greatest number of species was recorded in spring, followed by summer and winter. The number of species was distributed mainly in the coastal waters from the east of Leizhou Peninsula to the southeast of Hainan Island during the surveyed periods of summer and spring, but in the offshore waters during winter. The abundance of larval fish was lowest in winter, increased in spring, and reached the maximum in summer. High abundance of larval fish was generally restricted to coastal waters with the isobaths less than 50 m. Seasonal variations of larval fish richness, abundance and diversity index were significant (P