Page 216 - 《水产学报》2026年第04期

4 期 水 产 学 报 50 卷

Community structure of early life stage fish resources and its relationship
with environmental factors in the western waters of Sishili Bay, Yantai

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2,3*
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LI Xun , BIAN Xiaodong , SUN Ming , SHAN Xiujuan ,
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LI Xuening , ZHANG Haiting , XU Xilong 2
(1. College of Marine Living Resources and Management, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods,
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,
Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China;
3. National Field Observation and Research Center for Fisheries Resources in Changdao Waters, Yantai 265800, China;
4. Shandong Modern Fisheries Corporation, Yantai 264003, China)

Abstract: Sishili Bay, Yantai, is located in the northern waters of Laishan District, Yantai City, adjacent to the North Yellow
Sea, bordered by Zhifu Bay to the northwest and connected to the Yangma Island waters to the east. It is one of the important
coastal bays in the Yantai-Weihai coastal area. To investigate the environmental driving mechanisms governing the dynamics
of fish early life stages and to evaluate the effects of artificial habitat modification on recruitment processes in Sishili Bay,
Yantai, this study was based on ichthyoplankton survey data from nine cruises conducted between 2024 and 2025. We
employed the relative importance index, species turnover rate, and diversity indices to analyze intra-annual variations in com-
munity structure; utilized Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and Mantel tests to examine the spatiotemporal distribu-
tion patterns of fish eggs and larvae and their relationships with environmental factors; and applied Mann-Whitney U tests to
analyze differences in basic environmental parameters between artificial reef and control areas, while comparing species domin-
ance and average resource density to assess the current impacts of artificial reef construction on the distribution of fish early life
stages. Results showed that a total of 21 fish egg taxa and 33 larval fish taxa were recorded, with the primary spawning period
occurring from May to July. The dominant spawning species included Kareius bicoloratus, Paralichthys olivaceus, Konosirus
punctatus, Engraulis japonicus, Sillago japonica, Sebastes vulpes, Sardinella zunasi, Hyporhamphus sajori, Hypoatherina
valenciennei, Strongylura anastomella and Hexagrammos otakii, totaling 20 species. Species composition, resource density,
and species turnover rates all exhibited distinct monthly variations, with inter-monthly turnover rates remaining no less than
47%. Cold-temperate and warm-temperate fish species coexisted from March to May, warm-temperate and warm-water species
dominated from June to August, and a transition from warm-water to cold-temperate species was observed from September to
November. For fish eggs, both the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) and Pielou's evenness index (J′) displayed trends of ini-
tial decrease, followed by increase, and subsequent decrease, while the Simpson's diversity index (D) peaked in May and then
fluctuated downward. For larvae, H′ exhibited an increasing then decreasing trend, D showed an initial decrease followed by
increase and then continuous decline, whereas J′ peaked sharply in September before dropping rapidly. Sea surface temperat-
ure and salinity were identified as the key environmental drivers of the spatiotemporal patterns of fish early life stage com-
munities. Current artificial reef construction demonstrated significant associations with the aggregation of early life stages of
certain reef-associated species (Acanthopagrus schlegelii and Sebastes vulpes). These findings provide scientific basis and eco-
logical data support for the assessment and conservation of fish early life stages and the evaluation of ecological benefits of arti-
ficial reefs in the western waters of Sishili Bay.

Key words: fish eggs; fish larvae; environmental factors; artificial reefs; Sishili Bay
Corresponding author: BIAN Xiaodong. E-mail: bianxd@ysfri.ac.cn
Funding projects: National Key Research and Development Program of China (2024YFD2400402); Natural Science Founda-
tion of Shandong Province (ZR2022MD086); Taishan Industrial Experts Programme (tsls20231201); Innovation Team of Fish-
ery Resources and Ecology in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea (2023TD01)

https://www.china-fishery.cn 中国水产学会主办 sponsored by China Society of Fisheries
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