LAUSR

Abstract The Yesso scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) larva takes more than 20 days from spawning to attachment. Due to natural environmental factors such as current and wind, the larvae are transported to a distance of more than hundreds of kilometers, leading to a high instability of their spatiotemporal distribution and great difficulties in their natural seedling collection. We built a Yesso scallop larvae's individual-based model (IBM hereon), combining the larvae's biological characteristics at five different stages in shape, survival rate, and specifications along with the temperature's effect. We built hydrodynamic and particle tracking models in the Northern Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea of China. By combining these models, we constructed a coupled biophysical spatiotemporal distribution model for the Yesso scallop larva. We verified the model with measured data, which showed a good agreement with the observed data. Then, we performed a numerical simulation to predict the Yesso scallop larvae's spatiotemporal distribution. We conclude the Lagrangian residual current in the domain caused by the tide's coaction, wind, and thermohaline effects are from northeast to southwest, which drives the Yesso scallop larvae from its spawning area to the natural seedling area. The Yesso scallop larvae's spatiotemporal distribution calculated with our model can guide natural seeding collection.