The Demersal Fish of Asan Bay -IV. Temporal Variation in Species Composition from 1990 to 1993-

Temporal variation of demersal fish in Asan Bay was determined by analyzing seasonal samples collected by an otter tyawl from November 1990 to August 1993. Of 49 species identified, Cynogiossus joyneri, Thrissa koreans and Johnius belengerii predominated in abundance, consisting of in fish numbers and in biomass. The number of species did not show any significant seasonal variation. Fish numbers and biomass were comparatively high 3n spring, summer and tall, and low in winter. Community structure, analyzed by principal component analysis using rank correlation, showed a clear seasonal trend, which seems to be related to the seasonal effects such as temperature. The number of species and their abundance in the study area were lower than those in other embayments of Korean peninsula. It seems that unstability of the sediments by tidal mixing caused this phenomenon. The total number of species decreased annually. The species of which the frequency of occurrence tends to diminish as time were mainly composed of the species which rarely occurred with low abundance.