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Abstract: Environmental variables have been measured and sampling for ichthyoplankton has been conducted monthly, since April 2001, at three stations, located at the inner (1), middle (2) and outer (3) shelf of the central Cantabrian Sea. This paper presents the results of the study of the ichthyoplankton collected from July 2001 to June 2004. Fish larvae from 99 species, belonging to 37 families, were identified. Families with higher number of species were Gadidae, Sparidae and Labridae. The larval fish assemblage was dominated by pelagic fish species, with Sardina pilchardus, as the most abundant. There was a pronounced spring peak in larval abundance, dominated by S. pilchardus. A smaller peak, dominated by S. pilchardus and Micromesistius poutassou, was recorded in late winter at Stns 2 and 3. This pattern was evident for the three-year study. Results also indicate that this study was limited to the coastal larval fish assemblage inhabiting the central Cantabrian Sea shelf. This assemblage was temporally structured into other three assemblages: winter, late winter–spring and summer–autumn. Temperature was apparently a key factor in larval fish assemblage succession. In a scenario of global warming, this study constitutes a basis to evaluating the ongoing changes in the pelagic coastal ecosystem of the central Cantabrian Sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]