Study of Diversity and Abundance of Fish Larvae in the South-western Part of the Sea of Oman in 2011-2012

The study presents results on the taxonomic composition and abundance of fish larvae collected in south-western part of the Oman Sea (near Muscat and Sohar) from October 2011 to October 2012. 40 families of larval fishes were identified, which included 47 genera and 28 species. The four most common families, arranged in order of decreasing abundance, were Sparidae, Scombridae, Clupeidae and Nemipteridae. Fish larvae from 13 families occurred both in Sohar and Muscat areas (Blenniidae, Carangidae, Gerreidae, Haemulidae, Mullidae, Pomacentridae, Sphyraenidae, Teraponidae, Sparidae, Scombridae, Clupeidae, Nemipteridae and Sciaenidae). Monthly changes in abundance and diversity of fish larvae were studied. Majority of fish larvae taxa occurred in samples in February and July 2012. The higher abundance was observed in February with a density of 1534 larvae/100m3 and in July (385 larvae/100m3). In overall, Sohar was the richest in diversity of fish larvae and also had the highest average density (207.3 larvae/100m3) compared to Muscat. Keywords: fish larvae, diversity, abundance, distribution, Sea of Oman