Fishery species co-occurrence patterns in the bohai sea, China

Abstract The study of species co-occurrences leads to revealing interactions of a wide range of ecological processes. It plays a central role to measure and assess the association between species in a spatio-temporal dimension. The distribution of organisms and the interspecific interactions among species in the communities were investigated using the approach of species co-occurrence patterns. Totally, 114 fisheries species in the Bohai Sea were investigated following fishery-independent data (i.e., a pair of trawlers) during four distinct seasons: winter (January–February), spring (May), summer (August), and autumn (October–November), using a pairwise approach. In the present analysis, the results indicated that the fisheries species association was ‘truly random’, whereas the non-random association was around ten percent among the seasons. The species co-occurrence matrix was more obvious in summer and autumn. Similarly, species individual contribution to the positive and negative interactions was also significant for the same period. However, in the community, 62 fisheries species individuals presented non-random associations. Only the sea urchin (Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus) was non-randomly associated in each season while three fish species (Amblychaeturichthys hexanema, Ctenotrypauchen chinensis, and Eupleurogrammus muticus), one crab species (Charybdis japonica), and one octopus’ species (Octopus ocellatus) among spring, summer, and autumn with others. This understanding of the co-occurrence patterns of different fisheries species could provide more insight into future responses in the Bohai Sea.