Résumé
Early life stages of West African pelagic fish, most of which are commercially important, have not been widely studied specially in Senegalese and Mauritanian coasts. The aim of the present study, directed towards 3 species among the most abundant (Sardina pilchardus, Engraulis encrasicolus, and Trachurus trachurus), is to use the abundance and distribution of the pelagic eggs to obtain an estimate of the biomass of the adult spawning population. Sampling was done using CTD sampler for physical parameters collection and Gulf sampler for horizontal distribution of fish eggs. The maximum number of sardine and mackerel eggs was recorded during the winter survey with special abundance respectively on the coastal areas between Morocco and northern Mauritania and between Cap Blanc and Cape Timiris. Anchovy eggs are relatively important during the two seasons along all the sampling area. Our study showed that West African coasts are important spawning ground for many of commercial fishes. Moreover, the seasonality in the intensity of the upwelling events has an effect on the distribution of fish eggs. As a result, abiotic parameters should be considered in order to get full insights of the spawning dynamics.