To clarify the distribution and abundance of Coilia nasus larvae and juveniles,8 stations were set along the southern branch of Yangtze River Estuary from June to October 2018 and compared with the same period result of 2014 and 2015. A total of 4 611 individuals of Coilia nasus larvae and juveniles were collected in the 58 trawls at the spring tides in the surface layer by a larval net (1.3 m mouth-diameter, mesh aperture 0.5 mm). The average density was 0.123 ind./m³. The body length ranged from 3.10-61.74 mm,with developmental stages from preflexion larvae stage to juvenile stage. The most dominant developmental stages was preflexion larvae whose body length ranged from 3.10-18.12 mm, accounting for 86.18% of the total number, followed by flexion larvae whose body length ranged from 4.90-24.05 mm for 8.50%, postflexion larvae whose body length ranged from 9.75-30.36 mm for 4.60% and juveniles whose body length ranged from 24.22-61.70 mm for 0.72%. A total of 4 211 individuals of Coilia nasus were collected at flood tide during the day, the average body length was 11.18 mm,the average density was 0.169 ind./m³. 339 individuals of Coilia nasus were collected at ebb tide during the day, the average body length was 10.52 mm and the average density was 0.029 ind./m³. At St.8, the average density was 0.005 ind./m³ at flood tide and 0.002 ind./m³ at ebb tide at night. Development stage showed a similar tendency and preflexion larvae were dominant in 2015 and 2018, however, yolk-sac larvae were dominant in 2014. Coilia nasus larvae and juveniles were mostly collected from June to August each year, and rarely collected from September to October. The density was not significantly different among stations.