In recent years, large yellow croaker (LYC) has been caught with high abundance in the East China Sea (ECS), which raises concerns about the conservation of LYC resources. We collected LYC samples from spawning grounds and wintering grounds in the offshore Zhejiang from 2020 to 2022. In order to find out the migration route of LYC in the ECS, we made use of otolith microchemical elements by LA-ICP-MS analysis, combined with the clustering analysis and PCA of trace elements such as Ba/Ca, to classify different LYC groups. With the age characteristics of otolith, the habitat patterns of LYC group was studied, and the updated migration route of LYC was speculated. The results showed that groups with Ba/Ca $\leqslant$ 0.004 2 was inhabited in the marine region. That with Ba/Ca $\geqslant$ 0.008 1 was inhabited in the estuary region, and that with 0.004 2 < Ba/Ca < 0.008 1 was inhabited in the mixed (estuary and oceanic) habitat. The five group types of LYC were: (1) offshore spawning, short-term mixed waters inhabited (accounting for 22.2%); (2) offshore spawning, periodically back and forth with mixed water inhabited (accounting for 15.6%); (3) offshore spawning, feeding and nursering in estuary waters, and wintering inhabited in the open sea (31.1%); (4) estuary spawning, nursering in the mixed waters, overwintering inhabited in the open sea (6.7%); (5) shortly spawning in the mixed waters, most of the time inhabited in the open ocean (24.4%). PCA was performed with Ba/Ca core, peak and edge values of all samples, and the results showed that samples from five groups were evenly distributed on both sides of the first axis: G1, G2 and G5 groups, which spent most of their time in the ocean, and G3 and G4 groups, which were heavily influenced by terrestrial sources. At the same time, the PCA results also showed that all the samples appeared nearly synchronously near the island or reefs, indicating that populations in the open sea, offshore and estuary waters may mix due to factors such as migration, indicating the importance of Zhoushan offshore waters for LYC nursering and spawning. This study provides a certain basis for the migration history of the LYC in the ECS between its coastal spawning, feeding grounds and its overwintering grounds in the open sea, as well as for the speculation of its migration routes.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |