Radiolarian assemblages in the shelf area of the East China Sea and Yellow Sea and their ecological indication of the Kuroshio Current derivative branches.

Abstract

We analyzed the radiolarian assemblages of 59 surface sediment samples collected from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea of the northwestern Pacific. In the study region, the Kuroshio Current and its derivative branches exerted a crucial impact on radiolarian composition and distribution. Radiolarians in the Yellow Sea shelf showed a quite low abundance as no tests were found in 15 of 25 Yellow Sea samples. Radiolarians in the East China Sea shelf could be divided into three regional groups: the East China Sea north region group, the East China Sea middle region group, and the East China Sea south region group. The results of the redundancy analysis suggested that the Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Surface Salinity were primary environmental variables explaining species-environment relationship. The gradients of temperature, salinity, and species diversity reflect the powerful influence of the Kuroshio Current in the study area.