Species Composition and Community Structure of Demersal Fish Caught by a Danish Seine Fishery in the Coastal Waters of the Middle and Southern East Sea, Korea

We examined the species composition and community structure of demersal fish in the middle and southern coastal waters of the East Sea of Korea by surveying a commercial Danish seine fishery from 2010 to 2013. We considered the waters north of $37^{\circ}N$ as middle and those south of $37^{\circ}N$ as southern waters. A total of 79 demersal fish species belonging to 18 families were collected. Of these, 59 species (77.6%) inhabited only the East Sea as opposed to the West and South Seas of Korea, and most were resident species. The species and biomass were similar between the two portions of the study area. The sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus (78.0%) and the blackfin flounder Glyptocephalus stelleri (65.1%) were the most common species and accounted for the most biomass in the middle and southern waters, respectively. Fish were most abundant at shallow depths (50-100 m) in the middle portion of the East Sea. Using a cluster analysis, we divided the species composition and community structure at the sampling stations into three groups: middle portion (group A), deep area of the southern portion (group B), and shallow areas of the southern portion (group C). A. japonicas and G. stelleri were dominant in groups A and B, while G. stelleri and Clupea pallasii were dominant in group C.

동해구외끌이중형저인망에 의한 동해 중남부 해역 저어류의 종조성 및 군집구조