is widely distributed in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea. The species is of commercial importance, with an annual catch of over 100000 t in the Bohai and Yellow Seas. As the recent recession in traditional fishery resources becomes more serious, plays an increasingly important role in Chinese fisheries. Studies on the biological characteristics of were reported in the 1980s and 1990s in China, but have been rare in recent years. Information on biological characteristics such as growth and maturity may change with the recession of fishery resources. Therefore, better knowledge of biology is needed to inform the scientific management of this species in the China Sea. The biological characteristics of were studied on the basis of 350 samples of spawning stocks collected from April to May 2016 and April 2017 in the Bohai and Yellow Seas. The fork length of this spawning stock ranged from 406 to 1010 mm, and the body weight ranged from 533 g to 7245 g. The ages of ranged from 1+ to 10+ years, in which individuals of 1 and 2 years old accounted for 39.2% and 33.7% of the population, respectively. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation, , respectively. The sex ratio was 1:1.49 (female:male) in the survey area. There are more males than females under the age of 3 years, and more females than males after age 3. The reproduction of occurs from April to June and is concentrated in April and May. Individual absolute fecundity ranged from 91.6 to 1275.2 thousand eggs/individual, and the mean value was 504.5 thousand eggs/individual. The absolute fecundity increased with age and fork length and then began to decline after 7 years old. The dominant prey organisms were tended to have a lower age structure, miniaturized body size, and decreased fecundity compared to previous studies, and there were substantial changes in their dietary composition and breeding season.