Spatial-temporal Distribution of Spawning Grounds in the Western Guangdong Waters Based on Habitat Suitability Index Model

The western Guangdong Waters (WGW) locates in the northern South China Sea (SCS), and is an important area for fishes spawning, feeding, breeding, and migrating. This study built the Suitability Index (SI) Model for the spatial-temporal distribution of spawning grounds in the WGW based on the simple non-linear regression, using satellite remote sensing and investigation data during April to June in 2014 and 2015. Satellite data including Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) and water Depth from Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were used to build the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model, based on Maximum Model (MAXM), Minimum Model (MINM), Arithmetic Mean Model (AMM), and Geometric Mean Model (GMM). Results showed that the accuracy of the HSI model was 80%. HSI model built for fish-egg density during April, May and June based on GMM and MINM had the highest accuracy. High HSI area was mainly distributed in the eastern Leizhou Peninsula. HSI distribution was similar to the investigation of spawning grounds, indicating the good performance of the HSI model based on GMM and MINM in forecasting spawning grounds in the Western Guangdong Waters.