A total of 1 915 individuals of Liza haematocheila larvae and juveniles were collected with a plankton net(80 cm mouth-diameter,0.5 mm mesh-apesture) by way of horizontal trawl in 19 coastal stations of the South Yellow Sea from May 22 to 28,2005.The body-length ranged from 2 to 23 mm and those of 4 to 5 mm took the most dominance.Among these stations,the most dominant individuals were flexion larvae,accounting for 58.8%,and then preflexion larvae(25.4%),postflexion larvae(15.4%) and juveniles(0.4%).The highest average density was at St.4(243.3 ind./100 m3) and the lowest was at St.2(0.2 ind./100 m3),and others were from 0.2 to 35 ind./100 m3.The developmental stage showed the gradually increasing tendency from north to south area.In addition,the developmental stage in outer area was relatively earlier than in coastal area.These results revealed the possibility of the moving tendency toward the coast along with the current.It was necessary to protect the coastal area in order to maintain the resource recruitment of this species.