DISTRIBUTION OF MACROBENTHOS IN SPRING AND AUTUMN IN THE SOUTHERN YELLOW SEA

This paper presents the results of ecological study of the macrobenthic fauna in the southern Yellow Sea. The materials for study were collected from 17 stations located in 121°—125°E and 33°—36°N, in October 2000 and March 2001. For quantitative analysis, sample collected by 0.1m 2 box corer, 2 successful grabs were regarded as one sample in a station, removing the mud and sand by whirlpool mud remover, filtering the specimens by 0.1 mm sieve, and fixing them by 75% alcohol for small ones or 10% formalin for big ones. For qualitative analysis, sample collected by 1.5m × 0.5m Agassiz trawl, effective trawling for 15 minute, with 2 sea mile/hour speed, fixing the specimens as the quantitative analysis. Biomass was got by weighting the wet specimen with 1/1000 gram precision electric balance. After identification, 272 species of macrobenthos were collected. They belong respectively to Polychaeta, 84 species; Mollusca, 76; Crustacea, 83; Echinodermata, 29. Based upon the analysis of the data obtained during the survey, the distribution of these macrobenthic species and their biomass and density were described and discussed. It can be concluded that: the change of the density of macrobenthos in southern Yellow Sea is not distinct between spring and autumn, while the biomass in autumn is much larger than that in spring. Comparing with the benthos research results of “The comprehensive resource investigation of Chinese coast and shallow waters” (1959—1960), and “The benthos research of oil pollution area in South Yellow Sea” (1975—1976) in the area, the distribution pattern and the ecological characteristics of the macrobenthos inhabiting in southern Yellow Sea change indistinctly, but the biomass of spring is lower than that of 1959.