is an important detritus-feeding fish and the prey of many high-trophic-level species in the Yellow River estuary ecosystem. Thus, has large effects on the abundance distribution of many fish species in the waters. The distribution of relative abundance in relation to spatiotemporal and environmental factors were analyzed using generalized additive models (GAM) based on bottom trawl surveys conducted during July, August, and October 2013 in the Yellow River estuary and its adjacent waters. Pearson correlation analysis was indispensable for determining whether factors introduced in the model were significantly correlated, as included variables should be independent. The relative abundance of varied noticeably with resource abundance, being high in autumn and low in summer. Additionally, was mainly distributed in the coastal waters of the northern Yellow River estuary; however, with seasonal decreases in food resources and temperature, the distribution gradually moved to the open sea. A minimum Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to determine the best-fit GAM, via a stepwise method. Month, depth, sea-surface salinity, and phytoplankton abundance significantly affected the abundance distribution of in the Yellow River estuary and its adjacent waters. The final model explained 56.96% of the deviance, with phytoplankton abundance contributing the most (21.04%). abundance generally decreased with depth and increased with increasing phytoplankton abundance and sea-surface salinity. Specifically, abundance was relatively high in phytoplankton-rich waters <10 m in depth and with a sea-surface salinity of 17. These conditions may be related to reproduction-related migration, as well as estuarine environmental variation from the combined effects of freshwater runoff and tidal movement. In a future study, more data on quantifiable social and biological factors will increase the reliability of our conclusions. Nonetheless, the results of this study should contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of in the Yellow River estuary and adjacent waters.