Structure of demersal fish community in the South China Sea

A demersal fish community off Viet Nam was examined in order to know its structure in the tropics. Data were collected by a bottom trawler from December 1968 to July 1969. Analyses were made by data for three seasons from winter to summer. Quantitatively dominant fishes were lizardfish, snapper, Japanese butterfish in winter, and were snapper, lizardfish and bigeye in spring and summer. Spatially dominant fishes were lizardfish and cuttle fish in three seasons, and was bigeye in summer. These fishes are supposed to be core fishes of recurrent groups. Few fishes coexisted with others through the three seasons. Most fishes lived independently.