Abstract:

In order to study the composition, in terms of ecological type, of the fish fauna in the Taiwan Strait, we collected data from historical surveys and relevant literature on fish species in the region. Here, we discuss variations in fish composition and fishery resources. Our results showed that a total of 1,697 species in 40 orders, 206 families and 740 genera were recorded. The dominant order was Perciformes and the dominant family was Gobiidae. There were 1,560 warm water species, 128 warm temperate species and 9 cold temperate species. The habitat type of fish could be grouped as follows: 596 continental sandy-muddy demersal fish, 596 reef-associated fish, 249 continental benthopelagic fish, 158 continental pelagic-neritic fish and 98 oceanic fish. Among them, 181 were migratory fishes and 735 were economic fishes. The highest number of species were shared between the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea (91.9% overlap), while 69.3% of species in the Taiwan Strait were also found in the East China Sea, and 19.4% were shared with Yellow Sea. Most of the fishes could be classified as India-Western Pacific species, and only 288 species were distributed among all three areas of the China sea. The fish fauna of Taiwan Strait belongs to India-Western Pacific warm water region, specifically the China/Japan subregion and India-Malaysia subregion, and exhibits tropical and sub-tropical intertwined faunal characteristics. The boundary region of tropical and sub-tropical is around eastern edge of Taiwan Bank to the north of Penghu Islands.

Key words: Taiwan Strait, fish fauna, ecological type, global change