Page 271 - 《水产学报》2026年第04期

4 期 水 产 学 报 50 卷

Diversity and spatial distribution characteristics of fish communities in
river networks in the Pearl River Delta

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JIA Qiuju , LI Jie , LIU Yaqiu , XIA Yuguo , ZHANG Yingqiu ,
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CHEN Weitao , ZHU Shuli , SHUAI Fangmin 1*
(1. National Fishery Resources and Environment Guangzhou Observation Experimental Station, Key Laboratory of Prevention
and Control for Aquatic Invasive Alien Species, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial
Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Immunology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Pearl River Fisheries
Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China;
2. College of Marine Living Resource Science and Management, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China)
Abstract: The Pearl River Delta river network (PRDRN), with its unique subtropical geographical pattern of "three rivers con-
verging and eight outlets to the sea", is one of the most fish-diverse waters in the world. In order to understand the fish diversity
and spatial distribution patterns in the river network of the Pearl River Delta, and to provide data support for the conservation
and sustainable development of river network fish diversity, this study calculated the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Pielou's
evenness index, and Margalef richness index to characterize fish diversity. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and
redundancy analysis (RDA) were used to explore the distribution characteristics of fish in the Pearl River Delta river network
and their relationships with environmental factors. The results showed that a total of 157 fish species were collected, belonging
to 16 orders 57 families 124 genera, with Perciformes being the most numerous (78 species), accounting for 49.68% of the total
fish species, followed by Cypriniformes (30 species), accounting for 19.11% of the total. A total of 17 alien fish species were
surveyed, among which Oceochromis nilotica had the highest numerical proportion and Prochilodus lineatus had the highest
weight proportion. Among all sampling sites, the Hengmen River section in Zhongshan had the highest diversity index (3.37),
evenness index (0.78), and richness index (8.56). NMDS results showed that fish in the Pearl River Delta river network can be
divided into three communities: Community 1, dominated by pelagic and demersal-pelagic fish such as Hemiculter leucisculus,
Megalobrama terminalis, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Aristichthys nobilis and Squaliobarbus curriculus; Community 2, com-
posed mainly of benthic fish including Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Glossogobius giuris and Cynoglossus trigrammus; Com-
munity 3, represented by typical estuarine fish such as Clupanodon thrissa and Coilia grayii. RDA results indicated that salin-
ity, precipitation, and water temperature had significant effects on fish communities. This suggests that the fish resources in the
Pearl River Delta river network are abundant and fish diversity is relatively good, but species invasion is relatively severe, and
the relative historical resource quantity has decreased considerably. Fish populations in the river network are divided into three
groups, and salinity, precipitation, and water temperature are the main factors influencing the spatial differences of fish com-
munities in the Pearl River Delta river network. The study clarified the fish diversity, spatial distribution patterns of communit-
ies, and related influencing environmental factors in the Pearl River Delta, providing a scientific basis for the conservation of
fishery resources and sustainable development.
Key words: fish; species composition; diversity; spatial distribution; NMDS; RDA; Pearl River Delta
Corresponding authors: ZHU Shuli. E-mail: zshuli2009@126.com;
SHUAI Fangmin. E-mail: shuai6662000@aliyun.com
Funding projects: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Financial Fund Project (Investigation of Fishery Resources and
Habitats in the Pearl River Basin); Pearl River Fishery Resources Survey and Assessment Innovation Team Project (2023TD-
10); National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870527); China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund (CAMC-2018F)

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