This work concerns ecological studies on the larvae of the ark shell, Anadara broughtonii(SCHRENCK), in the aea adjacent to Gajyo-do in Jinhae Bay. Marine environmental factors, namely, temperatue, salinity, depth, and tidal current were observed in connection with the larval distributions. Water temperature appeared to be one of the main factors that influence the spawning activity. The numbers of the drifting larvae fluctuated greatly during the study period. The trend, however, was for numbers to be low in early summern, increasing in mid summer, and reaching a peak in late summer, at high bottom water temperature and low bottom salinities. Significantly increased numbers of the drifting larvae were observed during the period in which the bottom water temperatures and salinities were very close to those at the surface. the numbers of the drifting larvae showed a positive relationship with velocities of the water mass within the range of 0∼20 cm/sec. It was also noticed that the drifting larvae were relatively abundant in the area of eddy motion.