• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.72-85
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• 2010

Seasonal variation in species composition of estuarine fauna in the Han River estuary was determined using monthly samples collected near Ganghwa Island by a bag net from February to December 2009. Total number of species was 86: 54 species of fishes, 16 species of shrimps of crustacean, 12 species of other crustacean such as craps and so on, 3 species of cephalopods and 1 species of jellyfish. Of a total of 86 species, Palaeman carinicauda (32.6%), Acetes japonicus (15.9%), Palaemon gravieri (9.9%), Portunus trituberculatus (7.7%) and Acetes chinensis (6.9%) were predominated in abundance. These 5 crustacean accounted for 73% of total. Abundance, biomass and diversity of Han River estuarine fauna were high in spring and autumn, indicating typical pattern of temperate area. Out of dominant species, the brackish residence species such as Coilia nasus, Chelon haematocheilus, Mugil cephalus, Synechogobius hasta, Lophiogobius ocellicauda, Tridentiger barbatus, Palaeman carinicauda, Palaemon gravieri were collected almost year-round and predominated in abundance. Coastal migratory fauna species such as Coilia mystus, Thryssa hamiltonii, Thryssa adelae, Sardinella zunasi, Engraulis japonicus, Portunus trituberculatus, Acetes japonicus, Collichthys lucidus, Pampus argenteus were most plentiful from spring through autumn. Their adult coastal migratory entered the estuary in spring and large numbers of their juveniles were grew in summer and autumn until moving out to deeper waters for over-wintering, indicating they use estuary as nursing ground. Diadromous fish such as Anguila japonica adults were collected in autumn during their downstream migration. Brackish fauna and crustacean, especially shrimps were predominant, and few contaminant indicator species collected in the Han River estuary, indicating this area maintains the characteristics of natural estuary ecosystem.