The early life history of the red sea bream was investigated to elucidate the recruitment mechanism, as a biological basis for farming fisheries, in Shijiki Bay, southwestern Japan, during 1975–1983. Pelagic larvae, hatched during March-May in offshore spawning grounds, are transported by tidal currents and trapped by a circular current at the mouth of the bay. Larvae reach 10 mm total length about 30 d after hatching, when they begin to metamorphose into pelagic juveniles. The juveniles begin to migrate into the bay beyond the boundary area between the outer and inner water masses. This orientation seems to be closely related to their diel vertical migration. After immigration into the bay, juveniles become demersal. At this period, their main food organisms are the copepods Acartia clausi and A. steueri. Both prey species are contagiously concentrated near the bottom, and their densities increase towards the innermost part of the bay. This gradient of copepod distribution leads the early juveniles to the nursery ground, where gammaridean amphipods, the most important foods for demersal juveniles, are abundant.