Anchovy (Engraulis japonicus), a small pelagic fish and food of other economic fishes, is a key species in the Yellow Sea ecosystem. Understanding the mechanisms of its recruitment and biomass variation is important for the prediction and management of fishery resources. Coupled with a hydrodynamic model (POM) and a lower trophic level ecosystem model (NEMURO), an individual-based model of anchovy is developed to study the influence of physical environment on anchovy's biomass variation. Seasonal variations of circulation, water temperature and mix-layer depth from POM are used as external forcing for NEMURO and the anchovy model. Biomasses of large zooplankton and predatory zooplankton which anchovy feeds on are output from NEMURO and are controlled by the consumption of anchovy on them. Survival fitness theory related to temperature and food is used to determine the swimming action of anchovy in the model. The simulation results agree well with observations and elucidate the influence of temperature in over-wintering migration and food in feeding migration.
The dead proportion of a calanoid copepod Calanus sinicus population was investigated monthly with neutral red staining method at 12 stations in the Jiaozhou Bay and the adjacent waters from December 2008 to November 2009. C. sinicus could be observed through the whole year, with an evident numerical peak from February to April and an extremely low abundance in summer. Annual variation of the dead proportion differed greatly between adult females and copepodites. Dead females were observed only in the southern part and outside the bay sporadically in five months, when the egg production was the most active. Dead proportion of females was usually less than 5%. Dead copepodites could be observed in all but three months in summer in the whole study area, and the proportion varied between 3.8% – 18.2%. Death percentage of copepodites increased significantly in the northern part in January and June, when water temperature exceeded it's favorable limits;however, the fluctuated salinity had no significant effect on the survival of both females and copepodites. Thus the dead proportion of C. sinicus was relatively low in the Jiaozhou Bay, while difference could be observed between females and copepodites. Dead copepodites were common in all samples, but dead females were presented mainly as ‘reproduction cost' during generation alternation.
