Abstract

The Northern Bay of Bengal (NBoB) contributes largely towards the fish production of India and its neighboring countries. A pioneering attempt was made to understand temporal variability of the fish assemblage (exclusively to those of fisheries interest) of the NBoB (20°20ʹ–21°30ʹN and 87°30ʹ–89°E) in relation to sea surface temperature (SST) (°C), sea surface salinity (SSS), and chlorophyll-a (Chl- a ) (mg/l) changes. Between 2006 and 2015, the inter-annual variations of SST, SSS, and Chl- a were minor. Seasonal variability of SST, SSS, and Chl- a was observed and a yearly bi-modal peak of Chl- a production was evident. Inter-annual variability of the species dominance (D) was most plausibly explained by the SST*Chl- a (Δ AIC = 0) model. Variation of evenness index (J) was explained most plausibility by the Chl- a (Δ AIC = 0) model. Seasonal variability of SST and Chl- a levels, possibly influence the fish community of the NBoB, therefore, a regular monitoring programme is suggested for understanding the long-term changes of the fish assemblage of the NBoB.

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