Potential environmental drivers of Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) recruitment in the Yellow Sea

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Climate-induced fluctuations in marine fish populations have been raising great scientific concerns. Previous studies generally dedicate to parameterization of climatic, environmental, and biological variability patterns with focuses on their empirical or incompletely mechanistic relationships. Little consideration on physiological characteristics of organisms prevents from exploring mechanisms behind the apparent relationships. Therefore, incorporating physiological information into investigation on climate-environment-biology relationships is essential to understand climateinduced biological variability. Small pelagic fishes play unparalleled roles in the Kuroshio ecosystem and show dramatic fluctuations in response to environmental changes, serving as ideal research targets in studies on climate-induced biological variability. This study focuses on Japanese sardine, chub mackerel, and Japanese anchovy, three key small pelagic fishes in the Kuroshio ecosystem with distinct physiological characteristics, with attempts to incorporate thermal niches into investigations on their responses to climate variability. The recruitment suitable index (RSI) is developed considering both sea surface temperature (SST) and species thermal niche.Results show that the RSI significantly increase explanations on variations in resource abundance indices of the three key small pelagic fishes. Responses of small pelagic fishes to climate variability show differences by species and stocks. In addition, variations in the Siberian High pressure system and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation contribute highly to variations in resource abundance indices through affecting the SST and further the RSI. This study demonstrates importance of physiological information for understanding climate-induced biological variability and effectiveness of combining thermal niches with the investigation on mechanistic climate-environmentbiology relationships, which should be extensively considered in the future studies.

Section: Resource Abundances Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating thermal niche to benefit understanding climate‐induced biological variability in small pelagic fishes in the Kuroshio ecosystem

Tian

et al. 2022

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“…The total annual catch of Japanese anchovy in China has fluctuated between 50 and 120 metric tonnes since the mid‐1990s, accounting for 70% of world production (Figure 1). Clarifying the spawning strategy of the Japanese anchovy in the Yellow Sea and its relationship with the marine environment is thus crucial as it may be a determinant of recruitment and could be further used to explain the stock fluctuations under conditions of overexploitation and climate variability (Li et al., 2015; Lluch‐Belda et al., 1989; Ma et al., 2019; Nakayama et al., 2018; Oozeki et al., 2007; Yu et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spawning strategy of Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus in the coastal Yellow Sea: Choice and dynamics

Zhang

et al. 2020

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Understanding the relationships between hydrodynamics and the spawning activities of small pelagic fishes is crucial for understanding their recruitment dynamics and for fisheries management. Here, we clarify the effects of marine environmental factors and the associated hydrodynamic processes on the spawning activities of the Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus in the coastal Yellow Sea using data from in situ ichthyoplankton surveys (7 recent years), a hydrodynamic model and satellite remote sensing. We confirmed the peak spawning period (May and June) and primary spawning location (Haizhou Bay). We defined the ‘spawning temperature optima’ hypothesis to identify the optimal spawning temperature (13.0–18.0°C) for the Japanese anchovy based on egg occurrence and abundance. We detected fortnightly variation in spawning behaviour, which peaked after the spring tide. Anchovy eggs showed evident aggregation in the nearshore upwelling area during May and June, while strong upwelling in July may cause a negative spawning‐site choice in upwelling zone. These findings clarify the effects of hydrodynamics on the spawning behaviour of the Japanese anchovy in the coastal Yellow Sea.

“…Both mackerel and anchovy are among the most important fishery resources in the China Sea (Pan et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2003). Despite the overexploitation of many commercially important species in the China Sea under warming and intensive fishing, the catches of both mackerel and anchovy maintained a high yield (i.e., the fifth and second in China's marine fishery, respectively) in F I G U R E 1 Migration routes of (a) Japanese anchovy and (b) Japanese Spanish mackerel in the coastal China seas (these were redrawn from Zhang, 1965 andWei, 1980, respectively) recent years (Pang et al, 2018;Yu et al, 2020). It was observed that the fluctuation in the catch of mackerel was associated with anchovy over the past decades (Figure 2).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…It was observed that the fluctuation in the catch of mackerel was associated with anchovy over the past decades (Figure 2). With anchovy as SPF, their early recruitment is closely related to zooplankton availability, which is considered to be influenced by environmental variation (Yu et al, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the prey-predator interaction between mackerel and anchovy during early life stages is not well understood because previous studies tended to analyze the two species separately (Wan et al, 2008(Wan et al, , 2020Zhang et al, 2020). Therefore, determining whether mackerel in the China Sea have a unique spawning strategy in response to anchovy spawning dynamics, and exploring their interspecific relationships during the early stages, is essential, as it may be a determinant of mackerel recruitment and could be used to explain population fluctuations under conditions of overexploitation and climate variability (Li et al, 2015;Oozeki et al, 2007;Yu et al, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spawning overlap of Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus and Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius in the coastal Yellow Sea: A prey–predator interaction

Zhang

Tian

et al. 2022

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Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius and Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus are typical predator and prey species, respectively, with high commercial values in the China seas. However, the interspecific interaction, particularly the relationship between the two species during early life stages, is unclear. Here, based on ichthyoplankton surveys in the coastal Yellow Sea during 2013–2018, we analyzed the relationship between the two species based on egg occurrence and abundance in the context of species interaction. Spawning optimal temperature were examined for anchovy (13.0–18.0°C) and mackerel (15.0–20.0°C) based on egg occurrences and abundances in relation to sea surface temperature. We confirmed the peak spawning periods (May and June) and primary spawning areas (Haizhou Bay) for both mackerel and anchovy based on spatiotemporal distributions of two species eggs. Mackerel showed a high spawning overlap with anchovy, and anchovy egg abundance were also higher in overlap areas. Anchovy egg abundance may be more important for mackerel spawning than environmental variables, suggesting the significance of prey for predators during early recruitment. The temperature also has important effects on mackerel spawning and could be a threshold affecting mackerel spawning activity. Mackerel might have evolved a spawning strategy of short‐term spawning timed to coincide with the peak spawning of anchovy in the coastal Yellow Sea. These results highlight the effects of interspecific relationships on spawning strategy of anchovy and mackerel in the coastal Yellow Sea and may provide some insights for early recruitment studies of piscivorous fishes in the context of the match–mismatch hypothesis.