Studies on ecological characteristics variation and population dynamics of four lizardfishes in the southern Taiwan Straits

The ecological characteristics of four lizardfishes, Trachinocephalus myops, Saurida undosquamis, Saurida tumbil and Saurida elongata, were studied from specimens （910 T. myops, 454 S. un-dosquamis, 686 S. tumbil and 744 S. elongata） collected monthly in the southern Taiwan Straits from April 2005 to March 2006. The population dynamics of the four lizardfishes was also discussed by the comparison with the previous studies. All being composed of 7 a classes; the dominant group of T. myops and S. tumbil was 1–2 a, while S. undosquamis and S. elongate were 2–3 a. The total mortality coefficient Z and the fishing mortality F were at high as indicated by the exploitation ratio E（0.5）, and a large number of by-caught juvenile and young fishes showing that the stock of lizardfishes in this area was overexploited and the fishing gear was irrational. Compared with the previous studies, the maximum and mean fork length, body mass and age of the four lizard- fishes declined gradually, the lizardfishes populations were younger in age and smaller in size. The asymptotic fork length L ∞ decreased while increasing growth coefficient k, and age at the inflexion point of mass t r was younger compared with the previous studies. The declining of older ones has moderated the feeding competition and the younger ones grew faster. The larger mortality param-eters Z, M and F have revealed higher fishing pressure. The smaller change of the first mature fork length of female T . myops and the change from K selection pattern to r selection pattern of S. tumbil have indicated a more vulnerable fishery ecosystem in this area. The changes of ecological characteristics and population dynamics may be caused by over-exploitation of demersal fishes such as the lizardfishes, especially a large number of juvenile and young fishes by-catch by the current fishing gears and methods. Therefore, in addition to the traditional fishery management approach such as the minimum length-limit, ecosystem approach to fisheries management （EAF） should be taken to improve the practical marine ecosystem management, including increased fishing intensity of the non-economic species especially the feeding competitors of the lizardfishes and the conservation of the pelagic fishery population in the fisheries ecosystem, in order to restore the fishery population and achieve the sustainable use of the fishery stocks.

Fossil Human Humerus of Late Pleistocene from the Taiwan Straits

A highly petrified human right humerus was salvaged from the Taiwan Straits. The large and robust humerus has a well developed deltoid tuberosity that causes the obvious flexion at mid shaft. The axes of the upper and lower parts of the shaft are not on the same line and make an angle of 6 5°. This is considered a primitive trait different from that of Neolithic and modern humans, suggesting that the humerus is at the same evolutionary stage as "Minatogawa Man" from Japan and "Obercassel Man" from Germany. Coexistent fossil mammals indicate that the fossil humerus is late Late Pleistocene.

Ecological characteristics of planktonic ostracoda in the western waters of Taiwan Straits

In the sea area west of the middle line of Taiwan Straits, 116°40′～120°30′E, 22°22.9′～25°43′N, four cruises of comprehensive survey were conducted by the Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, from May, 1984 to February, 1985. The data concerned were taken from the quantitative samples obtained by using large-sized standard zooplankton nets, while the values adopted such as hydrological and chemical data of the various stations were from the average values of the field data of each one-meter layer.

First Symposium on Petroleum Across Taiwan Straits Held in Taibei

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The source rupture feature of the southern Taiwan Straits earthquake of September 16，1994 （Ms7．3） ＆ the analysis of earthquake circumstance in southeastern coast of China

According to the source mechanism of the main shock and the distribution feature of the aftershocks occurring in the southern Taiwan Straits on Sept. 16, 1994, in this paper the authors analysed the source rupture feature of the major earthquake, demonstrated that this seismic sequence possessed the charateristics of a large intraplate earthquake. And according to the seismotectonic background and the historical seismicity in the area, the authors clarified the active characteristics of the seismically active belts along northwestern direction and analysed preliminarily the earthquake circumstance in the southeastern coast of China.

Symposium of Urban Construction and Development on Both Sides of Taiwan Straits Held in Beijing

Fifty--one constructors from both main-land and Taiwan got together at the "Con-structor’s House" in the capital Beijing fromJuly 6 through July 8, and talked over the is-sues of urban planning, construction and ad-

Mazu Culture Links the Two Sides of the Taiwan Straits

THE goddess Mazu has been held in great esteem by emperors since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Wherever the Chinese live, in Asia, Africa, South America and North America, there are worshipers of Mazu. According to statistics, there are more than 1,500 Mazu temples and more than 200 million Mazu devotees in the world. Mazu culture, with its unique style, affects people and promotes friendly relations of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Fuzzy cluster analysis of water mass in the western Taiwan Strait in spring 2019

The classification of the springtime water mass has an important influence on the hydrography,regional climate change and fishery in the Taiwan Strait.Based on 58 stations of CTD profiling data collected in the western and southwestern Taiwan Strait during the spring cruise of 2019,we analyze the spatial distributions of temperature(T)and salinity(S)in the investigation area.Then by using the fuzzy cluster method combined with the T-S similarity number,we classify the investigation area into 5 water masses:the Minzhe Coastal Water(MZCW),the Taiwan Strait Mixed Water(TSMW),the South China Sea Surface Water(SCSSW),the South China Sea Subsurface Water(SCSUW)and the Kuroshio Branch Water(KBW).The MZCW appears in the near surface layer along the western coast of Taiwan Strait,showing low-salinity(<32.0)tongues near the Minjiang River Estuary and the Xiamen Bay mouth.The TSMW covers most upper layer of the investigation area.The SCSSW is mainly distributed in the upper layer of the southwestern Taiwan Strait,beneath which is the SCSUW.The KBW is a high temperature(core value of 26.36℃)and high salinity(core value of 34.62)water mass located southeast of the Taiwan Bank and partially in the central Taiwan Strait.

A survey on Hydroidomedusae from the upwelling region of southern part of the Taiwan Strait of China I. On new species and records of Anthomedusae

Fhrough the examination of 377 samples of the Anthomedusae, eight new species and one new record are described.

Species composition and distribution of marine nematode community in the North Taiwan Strait

Marine free-living nematodes were investigated at 13 sampling stations divided into three transects in the northern Taiwan Strait in February 1998. One hundred species of marine nematodes belonging to 91 Genera 28 Families 3 Orders were identified and were first recorded in the northern Taiwan Strait. The dominant species were Vasostoma sp., Sabatieria sp. 1, Linhystera sp. 1, Spilophorella sp., Daptonema sp., Halalaimus sp. and Dorylaimopsis variabilis. Their main densities were all over 4 950 ind./m2. According to mean density at transects, marine nematode density decreased from coastal Weitou to off Minjiang Estuary, which was similar to polychaete distribution in northern Taiwan Strait. The selective deposit feeder (1A) was the dominant food type of marine nematodes in the northern Taiwan Strait, but non-selective deposit feeders (1B) and epigrowth feeders (2A) occupied high proportion, indicating diverse feeding types of marine nematodes in the northern Taiwan Strait. Some environmental factors such as currents are discussed.

Three-dimensional structure of a low salinity tongue in the southern Taiwan Strait observed in the summer of 2005

Cruise observations with CTD （conductivity-temperature-depth） profiler were carried out in the southern Taiwan Strait in the summer of 2005. Using the cruise data, two-dimensional maps of salinity and temperature distributions at depths of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 m were generated. The maps show a low salinity tongue sandwiched by low temperature and high salinity waters on the shallow water side and high temperature and high salinity waters on the deep water side. The further analysis indicates that the low salinity water has a nature of river-diluted water. A possible source of the diluted water is the Zhujiang （Pearl） Estuary. Meanwhile, the summer monsoon is judged as a possible driving force for this northeastward jet-like current. The coastal upwelling and the South China Sea Warm Current confine the low salinity water to flow along the central line of the strait. Previous investigations and a numerical model are used to verify that the upstream of the low salinity current is the Zhujiang Estuary. Thus, the low salinity tongue is produced by four major elements： Zhujinag Estuary diluted water, monsoon wind driving, coastal upwelling and South China Sea Warm Current modifications.

Wave height measurement in the Taiwan Strait with a portable high frequency surface wave radar

As an important equipment for sea state remote sensing, high frequency surface wave radar （HFSWR） has received more and more attention. The conventional method for wave height inversion is based on the ratio of the integration of the second-order spectral continuum to that of the first-order region, where the strong external noise and the incorrect delineation of the first- and second-order Doppler spectral regions due to spectral aliasing are two major sources of errors in the wave height. To account for these factors, two more indices are introduced to the wave height estimation, i.e., the ratio of the maximum power of the second-or- der continuum to that of the Bragg spectral region （RSCB） and the ratio of the power of the second harmonic peak to that of the Bragg peak （RSHB）. Both indices also have a strong correlation with the underlying wave height. On the basis of all these indices an empirical model is proposed to estimate the wave height. This method has been used in a three-months long experiment of the ocean state measuring and analyzing ra- dar, type S （OSMAR-S）, which is a portable HFSWR with compact cross-loop/monopole receive antennas developed by Wuhan University since 2006. During the experiment in the Taiwan Strait, the significant wave height varied from 0 to 5 m. The significant wave heights estimated by the OSMAR-S correlate well with the data provided by the Oceanweather Inc. for comparison, with a correlation coefficient of 0.74 and a root mean square error （RMSE） of 0.77 m. The proposed method has made an effective improvement to the wave height estimation and thus a further step toward operational use of the OSMAR-S in the wave height extraction.

The spatio-temporal variation of wintertime subtidal currents in the western Taiwan Strait

A new data set of observations by six cruises of ship-mounted acoustic doppler current profiler（SADCP） and three 40 d long bottom-mounted ADCPs（BADCPs） is employed to reveal the spatiotemporal variability of tidal and subtidal currents in the western Taiwan Strait（TWS） during winter season. The results confirm the existence of intense cotidal lines for M2 tidal current, which is located north of 25°N. In this case, no existence of an amphidromic point can be identified. It is also revealed that the counter-wind current（CWC） can extend through the whole western TWS and even occupy the entire water column during winter monsoon relaxation. However,this CWC is observed to be thoroughly overwhelmed by the downwind China coastal current（CCC） during the two big monsoon bloom events in the winter of 2007, and the CCC consequently extends southward throughout the western TWS instead. Most importantly, the variation of the spatial extent for the CWC and the CCC in the western TWS is found to be well explained by the first two modes of the vector empirical orthogonal function（VEOF） analysis, that is, it is mainly controlled by a wind-driven quasi barotropic current as the first mode and slightly modulated by a relatively weak background current with a first-order baroclinic structure as the second mode.

Evolution of a coastal upwelling event during summer 2004 in the southern Taiwan Strait

A coastal upwelling event in the southern Taiwan Strait （STWS） was investigated using intensive cruise surveys （four repeated transects in a month） and satellite data in July and early August 2004. The extensive upwelling-associated surface cold water was first observed in early July （-2.0×10a km2） along the STWS coast. Then, the cold surface water reduced in size by -50% with decreased chlorophyll concentrations after 15 days, indicating the weakening of the upwelling event. At the end of July, the cold surface water disappeared. The temporal variations of the surface cold water and the 3-D hydrography around Dongshan Island are thought to be mainly attributed to the weakened upwelling-favorable southwestern wind, the asymmetric spatial structure of the wind field and the intrusion of warm water from the northern South China Sea.

Spatial and temporal variability of colored dissolved organic matter absorption properties in the Taiwan Strait

Spatial and temporal variability of the absorption properties of colored dissolved organic matter （CDOM） in the Taiwan Strait was investigated in summer （July to August of 2006） and winter （from December 2006 to January of 2007） seasons. The CDOM absorption coefficient at 280 nm （a 280 ） showed a decreasing trend from nearshore to offshore areas while the spectral slope coefficient parameter calculated between wavelengths 275–295 nm （S 275 295 ） showed an increase, indicative of decreasing aromaticity and molecular weight of the CDOM. The average a 280 in winter （1.47 ± 0.50 m ^-1 ） was significantly higher than in summer （1.10 ± 0.41 m ^-1 ）, while the average S 275 295 in winter （26.7 ± 5.2 μm^- 1 ） was significantly lower than in summer （30.6 ± 5.5 μm^- 1 ）, demonstrating clear seasonal variation in CDOM abundance and properties in the Taiwan Strait. A three-end- member conservative mixing model showed that local terrestrial CDOM inputs from several rivers along the western coast were small （〈5%）. However, the distribution of CDOM in the Taiwan Strait is mainly controlled by water mass movement [i.e., the Zhe-min Coastal Current （ZCC） and the Kuroshio Branch Current （KBC） in winter and the South China Sea Water （SCSW） in summer]. Biological activity was also an important factor affecting the distribution of CDOM in the offshore region in summer months.

Two new species of Ectopleura from the Taiwan Strait,China (Cnidaria,Hydroidomedusae)

Two new species of genus Ectopleura, i.e., Ectopleura elongata sp. nov. and E. triangularis sp. nov. are described in the present paper based on type specimens from the Taiwan Strait. The types are deposited in the Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, China.

Spatial structure and seasonal changes of nekton assemblages in the Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait is a transition zone between the East China Sea and the South China Sea with unique hydrology and a geographical environment that creates special marine community features.To analyze the spatial structure and seasonal changes of the nekton assemblages in the Taiwan Strait,seasonal experimental trawl surveys were conducted during 2006-2007.The results showed that there were two assemblages in the area with different sets of species,and the average similarity within each group varies between 39.38% and 74.20%.By using multivariate statistical analysis and analyzing the distribution of dominant species,we found that the structures of the assemblages had obvious seasonal variation.The middle region from the Putian transect to the Xiamen transect could be considered a mixing area for the two assemblages.The analysis of the relationship between species assemblages and environmental factors indicated that temperature was the most important factor affecting the community structure in cold seasons,and 22.5°C and 17°C could be considered dividing lines for spring and winter,respectively.In warm seasons,the most important factor was water depth,but the relationship with depth was not as significant,with a correlation between 0.264 and 0.399.The seasonal changes of nekton assemblages basically reflected the dynamic currents in the Taiwan Strait.The south coastal assemblage extended to nearly the entire area of the Taiwan Strait along with a strong and intense warm current that shrinks in spring and winter when the southward intrusion of the cold Zhejiang-Fujian coastal current becomes stronger.The impact of shortterm and long-term environmental changes,such as extreme weather,global warming and human activity on nekton assemblages,had been recognized but need further research.Our study on nekton assemblages could be used as a baseline for measuring future changes.

Sectional distribution of salinity and its indication of Kuroshio'sintrusion in the southern Taiwan Strait and northeastern South China Sea late summer, 1994

Using the CTD data investigated at about 330 stations in the southern Taiwan Strait, the northeastern South China Sea and their adjacent seas in August and September of 1994, this paper anayses the sectional distributions of salinity in 10 selected sections and discusses the possibility of the Kuroshio's intrusion into the northeastern South China Sea and the southern Taiwan Strait. The results show that: as the main stream of Kuroshio passes by the northern Luzon Strait during the survey period, the 'Kuroshio-influenced water' with some hydrological features of the Kuroshio may extend through the Luzon Strait to the sea areas near both the Dongsha Islands and the Taiwan Shoal of the southern Taiwan Strait.