• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.736-743
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• 2012

The aim of the study is to investigate the food habits of the Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra, and to examine any effects of the construction of the Busan New Port (BNP) on the prey. The frequencies and bulk estimate ratios of the biological debris, taken from spraints collected seasonally during the period from 2005 to 2011 at 16 areas, were analyzed. As the results, it was demonstrated that otters prey mainly on fish but occasionally on crustaceans and gastropods, etc., and the Mugiliformes was the most preferred fish. Although fish debris was observed throughout the season, it was suggested that the amount of fish eaten by the otter seemed to be associated with the amount of fish inhabiting the study area, judging from the striking similarities in the pattern of seasonal variations in each order of the fish between the frequency from the spraints and the fish catch. On the other hand, the frequencies of most of the fish, crustaceans, and gastropods from the spraints decreased from 2010, indicating the decrease of the amount of the prey by the construction of BNP and the strong possibility of the decrease in the number of otters in the near future. This is supported by the other studies, such as one showing a sudden decrease in the number of spraints since 2010, recent decrease in the fish catch, and the increase of marine pollution at this study area.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.2
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• pp.307-312
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• 2014

Wild boar have increased in recent years in Korea where damage to agricultural crops is considered as a social issue. The ecological studies on wild boar are essential for the effective management in the future. During May and December 2012, We collected 79 wild boar stomach samples from culling program implementation to reduce agricultural damage in Geochang County and analyzed stomach contents to figure out wild boar diet habit and which crop was preferred. There was seasonal variation in the diet. Plant foods represented up to 93.5% of the diet and were consumed more frequently than animal foods. Invertebrates occurred with high frequency but were underestimated in dry weight because they are rapidly digested. Agricultural crops consumed comprised mainly chestnuts(33%), rice(33%), and apples(24%). Agricultural crops are also a potentially important food resources for wild boar. The frequency of occurrence of earthworms was 50% of diet. Earthworm consumption generally increased in summer, and then decreased in winter. Our results show that wild boar can be considered an omnivore whose diet consists of plant and animal foods. To reduce wild boar agricultural damages, We have to focus on the prevention effort to rice paddy adjacent to chestnut forest and to apple orchard.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.278-286
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• 2021

The habitat characteristics and feeding ecology of the Siberian stone loach Barbatula toni were investigated in Bukcheon (Stream), Eocheonri, Ganseong-eup, Goseong-gun, and Gangwon-do, Korea from January to December 2013. B. toni lived in rapids or slow rapids from the upper stream to downstream, with the largest number of inhabitants in the middle-downstream regions. As a result of analyzing habitat preferences by age, 0+ and 1+ to ≥3+ showed differences. Ages of 0+(juveniles) lived mainly in rapidly flowing water (37.6±26.79 cm/sec) and low water depths (13.3±9.47 cm) in the pebble bottoms (substratum particle size 9.5±6.66 cm), but ages 1+ to ≥3+ lived mainly in relatively slowly flowing water (13.3±17.33 cm/sec) and relatively deep depths (25.9±10.31 cm) in stone and large stone bottoms (substratum particle size 18.0±7.63 cm). B. toni was mainly eaten from March to December when the temperature was above 5℃, and the amount of food eaten peaked in June and October. Their main food sources analyzed by the index of relative importance (IRI) included Diptera (57.0%), Ephemeroptera (29.3%), and Trichoptera (13.5%). The juveniles (age 0+) fed on small-sized prey such as Diptera and Trichoptera whales, but as they grew, they mainly ate large-sized Ephemeroptera. These feeding habits and changes in food according to the growth of B. toni were very similar to those of sibling species, B. nuda.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.160-170
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• 1995

The authors investigated feeding habit of river sculpin(C. poecilopus) were conducted at the Chiak streams from April 1993 to March 1994. The feeding habit of C. poecilopus was mainly acquatic insects, such as Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Nematoda, teleost fishes, fish egg and terrestrial insects. Terrestrial insects in the stomach contents were found mainly in autumn, and teleost fish(Moroco oxycephalus) was in summer. Aquatic insects(Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Diptera) constituted the bulk of food items ingested during each season. The prey selection indices for Ephemeroptera were positively selected in summer, and negatively selected in autumn and winter, Tricoptera and Diptera were positively selected in autumn and winter, and negatively selected in summer. Additionally, analysis for stomach contents of guarding males suggests that the parental males eat their own eggs during egg guarding(filial-cannibalism).

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 2011

We investigated the stomach contents of finless porpoises collected in the Yellow Sea. Prey organisms in the stomachs of 109 finless porpoises were identified as 11 species of fish, 8 species of shrimp and 4 species of cephalopod. Index of Relative Importance analysis revealed that the porpoises fed mainly on the Japanese sand shrimp (Crangon affinis). The energy density of the prey was estimated to be 5.46 kJ. The daily energy requirement was estimated to be 18,051 kJ/day for a porpoise with an average weight of 32.49 kg. The estimated annual consumption by finless porpoises in the Yellow Sea was 25,454 tons. The average commercial catch in the Yellow Sea by Korean fisheries was 135,913 tons from 2005 to 2009. Assuming that the abundance of finless porpoises is stable, porpoises ate approximately 18.7% of the commercial catch. The fishery catch may be influenced by the consumption by finless porpoises, while fishery bycatch is a cause of porpoise mortality in the Yellow Sea.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 1997

The spawning season, growth and feeding habit of tubesnout, Aulichthys japonicus were examined from the samples collected by a small beam trawl in the Zostera marina belt at the coastal water off Hamduck, Cheju Island, from May 1993 to May 1994. Tubesnout was the dominant species of overall 58 species collected in the study area throughout the year. The larvae and juvenile of tubesnout in the frequency distributions of body length began to appear in the Z. marina belt in March, and adults disappeared after May in the following year. The gonad weight index (GWI) and the condition factor (K) were high from November 1993 to January 1994 for males, while females were high from February to May 1994. Although tubesnout is an oviparous fish, males have the urogenital papilla. These results suggest that they were fertilized between November and January, and then males seemed to be died or move into other places. Females were examined to spawn from February to May. The stomach contents of tubesnout were dominated by copepoda smaller than ca. 1mm, Paracalanus, Oithona, Acartia, Oncaea and Harpacticoidae, accounting for 97% of total food items. The feeding habit of tubesnout did not vary by size. The fishes fed on Calanus, Euchaeta and decapoda larvae larger than ca. 3mm in March and April during the spawning season.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.46-57
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to examine the current situation of otter inhabitation and conservation and to collect basic information for establishing appropriate policies. We conducted the study around the Bukhan river from April to October 2009, mostly focusing on otter distribution, feeding habits, threats, and conservation measures. We divided the study area into 2 sectors: the dam area and the stream. We found 39 spraint sites in the dam area and 70 in the stream area. A significant difference was observed in the number of spraint sites between the upper stream and the lower stream. To evaluate the feeding habit, we collected and analyzed the frequency and bulk occurrence of the spraints. Among the prey items, fish were the most numerous (36.99%) followed by amphibians (17.22%). Fish showed the highest bulk occurrence in the dam area, and the bulk occurrence of amphibians and insects seemed to increase in the stream area. However, the bulk occurrence in the dam area seemed to be lower than that in the stream area (ANOVA, F = 3.99, p < 0.05). Fyke nets and abandoned fishing nets were found to be the most threatening factors. Further research on the systematic management of otters and the use of stop grids is required for better conservation of otters.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.206-213
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• 2013

Glass eels (Anguilla japonica) are caught in the west coast of Korea on their migratory route from the breeding grounds in the Mariana Trench along the North Equatorial Current and the Kuroshio Current. To identify the food source of natural glass eels, we analyzed the stable C and N isotopes of glass eels caught in April 2012 and investigated possible food sources in the survey area. In particular, with respect to the stable C and N isotopes of particulate organic matter, we extended the surveying area to the northern parts of East China Sea as well as the west coast of Korea. The stable C and N isotope ratios of the glass eels caught in the west coast were found to be $-20.7{\pm}0.1$‰ and $5.0{\pm}0.2$‰, respectively. The stable C and N isotope ratios of the particulate organic matter in the west coast of Korea, in which the glass eels are assumed to eat the particulate organic matter as food source, were estimated to be $-24.0{\pm}0.3$‰ and $2.8{\pm}0.4$‰, respectively. Similar data were obtained from the northern part of the East China Sea, $-24.5{\pm}0.5$‰ and $0.8{\pm}0.3$‰. The stable isotope ratios showed values differing from the stepwise increasing rates up the food web in natural aquatic ecosystem, showing that particulate organic matter in the west coast of Korea and East China Sea was not served as the glass eels food source. This result suggested that the glass eels caught in the west coast might not assimilate nutrition from the marine environment during long migration.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2012

Histologic and microstructural changes during the postembryonic development of the wolf spider Arctosa kwangreungensis were studied using light and scanning electron microscopy to examine the relationship between a morphological differentiation and behavioral properties. The postembryo with abdominal yolk sac was stayed inactive in the egg case because its muscular and visual systems were not fully developed to a functional level. The first instar spiderlings, developed from the postembryo by a first molting process, started to exhibit its pigmentation on their body cuticles. In particular, undifferentiated cell clusters of central nervous system (CNS) were densely distributed within the cephalothorax, and highly differentiated abdominal ganglion was observed. They had a characteristic visual system looks more like its adult counterpart, and had segmented appendages looks more like the tiny spiders containing well oriented muscular system. After 3rd instar, spiderlings grew more rapidly with accordance to their consistent growth and periodical molting processes. Thus, the relative area of CNS with respect to cephalothorax was gradually decreased, instead a pair of venom glands, musculature, and connectives occupied the residual area. It has been revealed that the early development of spider can be controled by the feeding condition of larval period, since histologic and microstructural differentiations in both appendages and optic system were completed at the second instar. In particular, behavioral properties of the wandering spiders that depend on vision and their running ability were deeply related to physiological differentiation of the microstructural development.