The Origin of Organic Matters Utilized by Soft Bottom Macrozoobenthos in Tongyeong

To elucidate the organic matter sources in soft-bottom macrozoobenthos at Tongyeong, Korea, macrozoobenthos and their potential food sources were sampled in May 2004, and their C and N stable isotope compositions were analyzed. In total we collected 128 macrozoobenthic species, which ranged from 465 to 3,775 individuals/$m^2$(average 2,108 ind.$m^2$) in density and from 47.8 to 539.9 gwwt/$m^2$(average 366.0 gwwt/$m^2$) in biomass. Cluster and multi-dimensional scaling analyses indicated that the macrozoobenthic community was divided into two distinct groups. Coastal inner stations, where commercial fish cages were established, were dominated by Amphioplus ancistrotus, Scoletoma longifoila and Tharyx sp., whereas open sea stations were dominated by Chaetozone spinosa, Scoletoma longifolia and Capitella capitata. ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of sedimentary organic matter showed a distinct gradient in the range of -18.4 to $-15.2\%_{\circ}$, with a declining trend from the coastal inner stations to open sea stations. This probably reflects the settling rate of organic wastes such as feces and pellets from fish cages near the coastal inner stations. The macrozoobenthos showed a broad ${\delta}^{13}C$ range from -19.5 to $-8.9\%_{\circ}$ at the coastal inner stations, and a relatively narrow range from -21.3 to $-12.9\%_{\circ}$ at the open sea stations. ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of macrozoobenthos paralleled those of sedimentary organic matter, Our isotope results suggested that macrozoobenthos near the coastal inner stations used organic wastes derived from fish cages along with phytoplankton, whereas the macrozoobenthos near the open sea stations used organic wasters derived mainly from phytoplankton.

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