Ichthyoplankton in a water column off north-eastern Taiwan, an area referred to as the Kuroshio edge exchange area, was sampled using a conical ichthyoplankton net on board R/V Ocean Research I. The purpose of this survey was to understand the ichthyoplankton community structure and its linkage with the Kurishio edge exchange process. This preliminary analysis illustrates the spatial density distribution of fish eggs, ichthyoplankton and an incidental catch of zooplankton. Biological densities and their linkage with the hydrological variables were also analyzed.
The principle findings include: 1) that the distribution of ichthyoplankton densities exhibited a consensus pattern of high density in a northwesterly direction near the East China Sea, low density in the southern area of the Kuroshio current proper and moderately high densities in the shore ea and 2) that principal compo­nent analysis based on hydrological and biological variables produces a clear picture that discriminates between the water mass of mid-shelf origin and those of oceanic origin. Station specific variation of the hydrological variables is also discussed.