Fish assemblages off western Taiwan

Study Extent

Two seasonal cruises, on 25th to 27th May (late spring) and 16th to 18th November (late autumn), 2019 were conducted at seven sites along the western coastal waters off Taiwan. From north to south, these sites were Wuchi (Wuqi) (WC) (24°15’N), Wanggong (WG) (23°59’N), Taisi (Taixi) (TS) (23°39’N), Chiku (Qigu) (CK) (23°09’N), Jiading (Qieding) (JD) (22°52’N), Linyuan (LY) (22°28’N), and Fangliao (FL) (22°18’N). These sites were chosen according to their topographic features and environmental conditions.

Sampling

The surveys were conducted by R/V Ocean Researcher No.3 using a beam trawl (width 6 m, body length 8 m, body mesh 4.5 cm, and cod end mesh 2.5 cm) operating at a water depth of between 15 and 35 m, approximately 3 nautical miles off the coastline. At each site, two sampling locations were set at a water depth of ca.15 m and ca.25 m, respectively. In total, 27 trawling hauls were conducted . For each trawl haul, the beam trawl was deployed to touch the seafloor at the sampling site, with a towing speed of ca. 2 knots for a period of 30 min.

Quality Control

The identification of fish specimens was conducted to the lowest level of taxonomic hierarchy possible based on the following reference books of Shen et al. and Nakabo et al., and the fish databases of Froese and Pauly and Shao.

Method steps

1. The fish specimens caught by each trawl haul were immediately extracted from the catches, roughly classified by species and frozen at − 20°C on board. Subsequently, all fish specimens were transferred to the laboratory on land for taxonomic identification.

N/A

1. Bothidae
   rank: family
2. Leiognathidae
   rank: family
3. Platycephalidae
   rank: family
4. Synodontidae
   rank: family
5. Solenostomidae
   rank: family
6. Apogonidae
   rank: family
7. Mullidae
   rank: family
8. Cynoglossidae
   rank: family
9. Aulopiformes
   rank: order
10. Soleidae
    rank: family
11. Pleuronectiformes
    rank: order
12. Tetraodontidae
    rank: family
13. Actinopterygii
    rank: class
14. Callionymidae
    rank: family
15. Tetraodontiformes
    rank: order
16. Pegasidae
    rank: family
17. Scorpaeniformes
    rank: order
18. Paralichthyidae
    rank: family
19. Sillaginidae
    rank: family
20. Animalia
    rank: kingdom
21. Chordata 
    rank: phylum
22. Perciformes
    rank: order
23. Gasterosteiformes
    rank: order

Western coast of Taiwan