1Laboratory of Marine Stock-enhancement Biology, Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa, Kyoto 606-8502, 2Ehime Prefecture Chuyo Fisheries Experimental Station Toyo Branch, Toyo, Ehime 799-1303, Japan
A total of 51,322 larval fishes belonging to more than 97 taxa in 49 families were caught by monthly collections with a larva-net at eight sampling stations in Hiuchi-nada, the central Seto Inland Sea, from Nov. 1997 to Oct. 1998. The mean water temperature varied from 10.5 (Mar.) to 29.4°C (Aug.) and salinity from 31.1 (July) to 32.9 (Dec.). The ichthyofauna was most abundant in May and diverse in July. The numerically dominant species were Konosirus punktatus, Sardinops melanostictus, Ctenotrypauchen microcephalus, Ammodytes personatus, and Decapterus maruadsi. Monthly total catches of individuals fluctuated greatly according to the abundance of several influential species such as Sardinops melanostictus in Jan., Ammodytes personatus in Feb., Konosirus punktatus in May, Decapterus maruadsi in July, and Apogon lineatus in Sep. Compared with the results of larval fish surveys in the pelagic areas, larval fish fauna in this area was characterized by the abundance of inshore species and scarcity of offshore species. Relative compositions of Ammodytes personatus and Rudarius ercodes were lower in this study and those of Konosirus punktatus and Sardinops melanostictus were higher than in the result from a larval survey conducted in the same region in the 1960s.