FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE,MOA,TAIWAN

The objectives of this study were to investigate the species composition and distribution of larval fish in relation to water temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a in Tapeng Bay. There were 31 identified species of the larval fish that belonged to 29 genera and 16 families with the mean numerical abundance of 22.9 ± 40.7 ind./100m100m³ from June 1999 to December 2001. The seasonal change in numerical abundance of the larval fish was not coincident interannually. The six most dominant taxa were Omobranchus sp., Tridentiger obscurus, Pterogobius zonoleucus, blenniid sp., gobiid sp., and Entomacrodus lighti, with occupied 92% of the total abundance. Among these, the first two dominant taxa, Omobranchus sp. and T. obscurus contributed to 80% of the total count. In linear regression analysis, there was no significantly different between environmental factors and abundance, excepting a positive relation between Omobranchus sp. and water temperature (p < 0.01). In addition, the ANOVA test was showed that there was no significantly different between abundance and months and stations.