Abundance and distribution of ichthyolarvae from upper pelagic waters of the northwestern Arabian Sea during different monsoon periods, 1992–1994

Surface to subsurface ichthyolarval distribution and abundance in the northwestern Arabian Sea is presented. Fish larvae were sorted from zooplankton samples from five NASEER (North Arabian Sea Environment and Ecosystem Research) cruises carried out during different monsoon periods between 1992 and 1994. No areas of exceptionally high fish larval concentration were identified. However, there was a weak concentration of fish larvae at stations southeast of Karachi during three of the cruises, though its actual location was not the same during each cruise, and there was a peak in concentration...

Surface to subsurface ichthyolarval distribution and abundance in the northwestern Arabian Sea is presented. Fish larvae were sorted from zooplankton samples from five NASEER (North Arabian Sea Environment and Ecosystem Research) cruises carried out during different monsoon periods between 1992 and 1994. No areas of exceptionally high fish larval concentration were identified. However, there was a weak concentration of fish larvae at stations southeast of Karachi during three of the cruises, though its actual location was not the same during each cruise, and there was a peak in concentration of fish larvae off the west coast of Pakistan during May 1994. Abundance of fish larvae is compared with zooplankton standing stock, temperature, salinity, wind speed and dissolved oxygen using non-parametric tests. However, no clear relationship between biotic and abiotic factors at surface to subsurface water depths was found.