Comparison of Community Structure of Fish Larvae in the Northern East China Sea in Normal and El Niño/La Niña Periods

The aim of this study was to compare community structure of larval fish species in the northern East China Sea during normal meteorological conditions in autumn 2009, during the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o period in 2009-2010, and during the La Nina period in 2010. Fifty taxa were recorded during the study period; the most dominant species were Benthosema pterotum and Gobiidae spp. In October 2008 during the normal period, warm water from the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) intruded more into the surface and middle layers, and cold water affected by the Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW) intruded into the bottom layer. In October 2009 during the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o period, intrusion of the China Coastal Water (CCW), which has low salinity (<32.2 psu), was more apparent than intrusion of the TWC or YSCW. In October 2010 during the La Nina period, intrusion of the TWC and CCW was relatively weak, resulting in the lowest temperature and highest salinity observed during the study period in the eastern part of the study area. Hierarchical cluster, one-way ANOSIM (analysis of similarities), and SIMPER (similarity-percentages procedure) analyses provided two main results. First, the abundance of the most dominant larval fish species in autumn of the normal period was greater than that in autumn of the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/La Nina periods, resulting in a significant difference in ichthyoplankton community structure between the periods. The abundance of Benthosema pterotum increased in the normal period, possibly influenced by the intrusion of cold water from the YSCW; the abundance of species residing in Korean waters (e.g., Gobiidae spp.) probably decreased during the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/La Nina periods. The second finding was that the abundance of subtropical larval fish in autumn of the normal period was generally larger than that during autumn of the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/La Nina periods. This could have been induced by the stronger intrusion of warm water from the TWC during the normal period. Although differences in oceanographic conditions between El Ni$\tilde{n}$o and La Nina periods were observed, the differences in ichthyoplankton community structure between the two periods were not significant.

엘리뇨/라니냐와 정상 기간 동중국해 북부해역의 자치어의 군집구조 비교