Community structure of fish eggs and larvae in artificial reef area of Ma’an Archipelago

With the aim of understanding the impact of artificial reef deployment on the distribution of fish eggs and larvae, a horizontal trawl survey using large plankton nets in Ma’an Archipelago from January 2018 to October 2018 was carried out on four voyages. According to the species composition, quantity distribution and other community structure characteristics of fish eggs and larvae, their resource distribution in reef areas and natural areas were studied.The results showed that a total of 5 642 fish eggs and 1 013 larvae were collected, which belonged to 10 orders, 21 families and 49 species. Harpodonle sueur, Cynoglossus joyneri and Larimichthys polyactis were dominant fish eggs; Sebastiscus marmoratus, Lateolabrax japonicus and Stolephorus sp. were the dominant fish larvae. The dominant species of fish eggs and larvae in the reef area and the natural area were almost the same, while the community structure was significantly different. The reef areas had significant differences with the natural areas in the biodiversity, and the diversity index, richness index and evenness index of the reef area were highest in spring. Cluster analysis indicated that the community structure of fish eggs and larvae were the most stable in spring, the simplest in winter, and the summer had the higher similarity with autumn. Comprehensive analysis suggested that artificial reefs in Ma’an Archipelago have certain aggregation and shelter effects on fish eggs and larvae, and the marine physical environmental factors such as temperature (T), salinity (S), water turbidity (Turb.) and so on have significant effects on the distribution of fish eggs and larvae.