Effect of sea surface temperature during critical early life history stages of Portunus trituberculatus on later yield

• Published in: Journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 313 - 325
• Main Authors: Xia, Kaiming, Liu, Baogui, Qiao, Jiale, Wang, Yingbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.01.2025; Springer Nature B.V; School of Fishery,Zhejiang Ocean University,Zhoushan 316022,China
• Subjects: Aquatic crustaceans; China; coasts; Correlation; Crustaceans; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fisheries; Fisheries management; Fishing; Larvae; Larval stage; Life history; Limnology; Low temperature; Marine organisms; Marine resources; Mortality; Oceanography; Offshore; Particle tracking; Portunus trituberculatus; R&D; Research & development; Research Paper; Resource availability; Restocking; Sea surface temperature; Shellfish; surface water temperature; China; swimming crab; East China Sea; ); larval stage development; Lagrangian particle tracking; spatial-temporal dynamics; sea surface temperature; swimming crab(Portunus trituberculatus)
• ISSN: 2096-5508; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-024-3253-3

The early life stages of marine organisms are pivotal in shaping community dynamics and resource availability. In this study, we focused on Portunus trituberculatus , a crustacean integral to China’s fisheries economy, and examined the effect of sea surface temperature (SST) in its critical early life stages on subsequent yields. To analyze the correlation between SST in different larval stages and the corresponding yield of P. trituberculatus , we simulated the transport and distribution of larvae from 2014 to 2022 by employing circulation models and Lagrangian particle tracking experiments (LPTE). In the five years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2020), particles were transported in a northwestern direction and moved in the direction of low SST. The distribution of particles in the megalopa stage (M stage) were located in the region of the lower temperature. In 2017, 2018, and 2021, the particles were transported in a northeastern direction but they did not move with the gradient of low SST in these years, and the particles in the last M stage were located in the region where the SST was at the peak of the time period. In 2022, the distribution was observed for most of the particles in the southwestern part of Zhejiang coast, a small part of them were transported in the northwestern direction and a small amount of particles was distributed offshore along the northern area of the Zhejiang coast. The correlations between the SST at each stage of larvae with the corresponding year’s yield showed that the yield of P. trituberculatus decreased significantly ( R =−0.772, P =0.015) with increasing SST at the M stage. This study preliminarily explains the correlation between SST at the larval stage and the yield of P. trituberculatus and provides essential information for scientific stock enhancement in the future.