COMPOSITION AND TEMPORAL FLUCTUATIONS OF INSHORE JUVENILE FISH POPULATIONS IN THE KORNATI ARCHIPELAGO, EASTERN MIDDLE ADRIATIC

Temporal fluctuations of species composition and abundance of fish juv eniles in the National Park Kornati were studied over 12 months from J anuary to December 1992. A total of 40 168 individuals, representing 2 4 families and 69 species, were collected using a 50 m long beach sein e. The community was dominated numerically by a few species: Atherina hepsetus (45.90%), Sarpa salpa (21.21%), Diplodus vulgaris (10.49%), a nd Symphodus ocellatus (6.98%), constituting over 84.58% of the total catch. Similarity between patterns in the abundance of the 17 most com mon species were examined using correlation matrix-based principal com ponent analysis. Results were compared to the abiotic factors leading to the conclusion that only a low amount of variation in the abundance field can be explained by temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen.