Biology and fishery ecology of Protosalanx chinensis: a review

Protosalanx chinensis is a small economic fish distributed exclusively in the Eastern Asia and most of the relative research work was mainly conducted by Chinese researcher. We summarized the latest researches on ichthyology, growth, reproduction, incubation and embryo development, transplantation and yield fluctuation, invasiveness of P. chinensis in this paper. The corrected scientific name of this fish is not widely used yet. A large amount of genetic variations have been detected and morphological changes have also occured after transplanting for so many years. Growth rate differences in the same month explained why the ultimate body length of northern populations is not less than that of southern populations, although the growth period is shorter in northern area than southern area. Whether transition to feed on fish steadily or not determined the growth rate and ultimate body size of P. chinensis, however, diet base for size-structured populaton forming is not known yet. Whether size-structured populaton forms or not determins the sex selctive pattern, which has not been studied yet. P. chinensis performs spawning once in life span and the fertilizing rate of natural breeding is higher than artificial breeding, therefore, there is no need of stocking fertilized eggs if the appropriate number of reproductive individuals remain after commercial fishing. Embryo development and the impacting factors were well known which is enough for artificial production of fertilized eggs. P. chinensis is a kind of saline-alkaline tolerance species, and can serve as a candidate for saline-alkaline fisheries. It is agreed that overexploitation of diet resources accounts for the dramatic yield decline of P. chinensis, but the relative ecological research has not been conducted to guide the sustainable fisheries yet. We also suggested the countermeasures against invasion of P. chinensis.