Abstract:As a spawning ground for many fish species, Bohai Bay plays a significant role in maintaining sustainable inshore fish stocks in Bohai and the Yellow Sea. In recent decades, the loss or fragmentation of fish habitats has been taking place in Bohai Bay as a result of exogenous interference factors, such as human activity and climate change. An understanding of the distribution pattern of fish eggs is urgently needed to protect fish recruitment. However, a comprehensive insight into how fish eggs are distributed in Bohai Bay is still lacking. To better understand how environmental conditions affect the distribution of fish eggs in Bohai Bay, an integrated habitat suitability index (HSI) model, including three physical and chemical environmental variables, sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), and seawater pH, was developed in this study. Meanwhile, three empirical HSI algorithms (geometric mean method; minimum method; continued product method, CPM) were performed to select the best algorithm. The data used for analysis comes from independent trawl surveys, applying standardized sampling protocols from 2014 to 2018. The results showed that (1) the fish eggs in Bohai Bay were mainly distributed in areas where the ranges of SST, SSS, and pH are 21.6?24.8 ℃, 30.07?32.60, and 8.03?8.21, respectively. (2) The SI of each environmental variable varies by month. (3) CPM was the optimal HSI model for fish eggs in Bohai Bay based on the evaluation criteria of Akaike information criterion. (4) In May, the HSI model shows an acceptable performance. In June and July, there may be potential unconsidered factors that dominate the distribution of fish eggs under suitable SST, SSS, and pH conditions. This study enhances our understanding of the relationships between fish eggs and different environmental factors. Moreover, the models built can be used to detect potential spawning grounds for fish in Bohai Bay. These findings may increase awareness among researchers and policymakers. A more comprehensive survey and scientific site layout will be helpful to gain a deeper understanding in the future.