Species Composition and Seasonal Variations of Fishes Collected by Set Net in Coastal Waters of Gijang, Korea

Abstract

Fish catches by a set net from January 2007 to November 2009 were analyzed to assess fish species composition and seasonal variations in the coast of Gijang, Korea. Over 389 kg fish representing 78 species, 45 families and 17 orders were collected during three years of the study. Dominant species were jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus, anchovy Engraulis japonicus and herring Clupea palasii, and these three species comprised 67.3% of the total number of individuals and 60.7% of the total biomass. Size distribution of the dominant species for jack mackerel, anchovy and herring ranged from 2.2 cm to 22.6 cm, from 2.5 cm to 14.8 cm, from 4.0 cm to 29.0 cm in fork length, respectively. Anchovy was the only species that occurred throughout all seasons in the Gijang coast. Generally, species richness was highest in spring (April to June) when sea temperature began to increase.

Larval distribution of the common dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Coryphaenidae) in the East Sea/Sea of Japan

“…In the East Sea/Sea of Japan and East China Sea, the species is found during the summer months when water surface temperatures rise above 18–19°C (Kojima, ), as in other subtropical areas (Shcherbachev, ). Adult specimens are occasionally captured from set nets during the summer in the eastern waters off Korea (Han, Kim, & Baek, ; Lee, Kang, Choi, & Jung, ), but abundances are low and no commercial exploitation occurs.…”