• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.91-109
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• 2021

The occurrence of benthic dinoflagellates, many of which are known to be toxic, is a critical concern for scientists, government officers, and people in the aquaculture, dining, and tourism industries. The interest in these dinoflagellates in countries with temperate climate is increasing because tropical or subtropical species introduced into temperate waters by currents are able to survive the winter season in the new environment owing to global warming. Recently, several species from the benthic dinoflagellate genera Amphidinium, Coolia, Ostreopsis, Gambierdiscus, and Prorocentrum have been reported in the waters of the South and East Sea of Korea. The advent of the benthic dinoflagellates in Korean waters is especially important because raw or slightly cooked seaweeds, which may harbor these benthic dinoflagellates, as well as raw fish, which can be potentially intoxicated by phytotoxins produced by some of these benthic dinoflagellates, are part of the daily Korean diet. The recent increase in temperature of Korean coastal waters has allowed for the expansion of benthic dinoflagellate species into these regions. In the present study, we reviewed the species, distribution, and toxicity of the benthic dinoflagellates that have been reported in Korean waters. We also provided an insight into the ecological and socio-economic importance of the occurrence of benthic dinoflagellates in Korean waters.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.347-370
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• 2013

A study on the presence of benthic dinoflagellates in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Jeju Island, Korea was conducted during 2011 and 2012. Identification and taxonomic observations were made of the benthic dinoflagellate samples using light and epifluorescence microscopy. Thirty-seven dinoflagellate taxa belong to five orders, nine families, 18 genera and 30 species, which are new records for Korean waters, were detected in this study. The detailed nomenclature, references, distribution, and illustrations are presented here. The commonly occurring genera were Amphidinium, Coolia, Ostreopsis, Prorocentrum, and Thecadinium. Among the recorded species, 26 were found only in sand sediment, seven in macroalgal samples, and four were found in both sand and macroalgal samples. Of the 37 species, nine were potentially toxic. These results suggest that diversified benthic dinoflagellates including several potentially toxic species occur in sand sediment and macroalgae in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Jeju Island. The morphological features of the identified species were more or less similar to observations made by previous studies in Korea and elsewhere. The presence of known toxic species may indicate a potential risk of toxicity in the marine ecosystem of Jeju Island. The present study can be helpful for further detailed taxonomic, toxicological, molecular phylogenetic studies and may help in the management and conservation of Jeju Island's marine ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.252-259
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• 2018

A research probing for the unrecorded and taxonomically undescribed indigenous species has been initiated since 2006. Samples were collected from an intertidal zone along the coasts of Korea as well as around the Jeju Island. We have found five unrecorded species of four genera belonging to the order Dinophysiales, Gymnodiniales, Peridiniales, and Prorocentrales. The species are as follows, Sinophysis canaliculata (2017) Bispidodinium angelaceum (2015), Cabra armorica (2016), Prorocentrum bimaculatum (2017), and P. tsawwassenense (2017) (note; The numbers in parenthesis refer to the year in which the species was reported as unrecorded indigenous species by National Institute of Biological Resources, NIBR hereafter).

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.325-326
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• 2015

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.141-150
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• 2015

Dinoflagellates are ubiquitous and important primary producers in the oceans. They have diverse trophic modes, i.e., phototrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic modes and thereby, play important ecological role in marine microbial food-web. While many studies have been focused on planktonic dinoflagellates in pelagic ecosystems, benthic, sand-dwelling dinoflagellates that inhabit in intertidal zone have been very poorly documented worldwide. We investigated biodiversity, occurrence, and molecular phylogeny of benthic, sand-dwelling dinoflagellates from the intertidal flat of Dongho, west coast of Korea during low-tide, monthly from November 2012 to February 2014. About 27 species of 13 genera in orders Gonyaulacales, Gymnodiniales, Peridiniales, Prorocentrales have been identified, of which members in the genus Amphidinium constituted a major part of the sand-dwelling dinoflagellates in this area. A total of 34 isolates from 16 species of the sand-dwelling dinoflagellates were isolated from Dongho, Mohang, Gamami, and Songho in the west coast and Hyupjae in Jeju of Korea, their 28S rDNA sequences were successfully amplified, and applied for molecular phylogenetic analyses. In the 28S rDNA phylogeny, Amphidinium species diverged across three major clusters within the order Gymnodiniales and formed polyphyletic group. Based on the unambiguously aligned partial 28S rDNA sequences including variable D2 region, the genotypes of Amphidinium mootonorum Korean strains greatly differed from that of Canadian strain with 19.2% of pairwise nucleotide difference, suggesting that further ultrastructural studies may provide additional characters to clearly separate these genotypes. Two potential toxic species, Amphidinium carterae and A. operculatum appeared occasionally during this study. Quantitative assessment and toxicity of those species should be addressed in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1083-1092
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• 2010

The spatial variability in the food chain structure of an estuary environment (Nanakita estuary, Japan) was investigated using fatty acid. Potential organic matter sources (terrestiral plants, macroalgae, benthic microalgae, dinflagellates and bacteria), sedimentary organic matters and benthic invertebrates (Nuttallia olivacea and Nereidae) were sampled in four locations with different tidal flat type. The main objective of the present study was to determine the origin of sediment and the food sources of N. olivacea and Nereidae along with small-scale spatial variability. The origin of sedimentary organic matters were mainly the fatty acid of bacteria and benthic microalgae. Especially, The organic matter of terrestrial plant origin was found the highest in station C. The diets of N. olivacea and Nereidae were found to be dominated by diatoms and terrestrial plants. Whereas, macroalgae and dinoflagellates showed little influence to benthic invertebrates. Moreover, according to principal component analysis, it is showed that benthic invertebrates in the same region are using the same food without relation with species. On the other hand, the N. olivacea and Nereidae of station D clearly contrasts with station B in terms of main food sources. From these results, it is suggested that food competition of benthic invertebrates revealed high a connection between small-scale spatial variability and food source in estuary.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.111-123
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• 2012

To understand the phytoplankton community in the eastern part of the Yellow Sea (EYS), in the summer, field survey was conducted at 25 stations in June 2009, and water samples were analyzed using a epifluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry and HPLC method. The EYS could be divided into four areas by a cluster analysis, using phytoplankton group abundances: coastal mixing area, Anma-do area, transition water, and the central Yellow Sea. In the coastal mixing area, water column was well mixed vertically, and phytoplankton was dominated by diatoms, chrysophytes, dinoflagellates and nanoflagellates, showing high abundance ($>10^5\;cells\;l^{-1}$). In Anma-do coastal waters characterized by high dominance of dinoflagellates, high phytoplankton abundance and biomass separated from other coastal mixing area. The southeastern upwelling area was expanded from Jin-do to Heuksan-do, by a tidal mixing and coastal upwelling in the southern area of Manjae-do, and phytoplankton was dominated by benthic diatoms, nanoflagellates and Synechococcus group in this area. Phytoplankton abundance and biomass dominated by pico- and nanophytoplankton were low values in the transition waters and the central Yellow Sea. In the surface of the central Yellow Sea, high dominance of photosynthetic pigments, 19'-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin and zeaxanthin implies that haptophytes and cyanobacteria could be the dominant group during the summer. These results indicate that the phytoplankton communities in the EYS were significantly affected by the formation of tidal front, thermal stratification, and coastal upwelling showing the differences of physical and chemical characteristics during the summer.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2016

Feeding behaviour of the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized by comparing the contents composition in digestive tract of the clam and the phytoplankton community in surface sea water in Gomso Bay, west coast of Korea. The contents of digestive tract comprised diatoms (71.5%), dinoflagellates (13.1%), nannoplankton (6.6%), and detritus including mesozooplankton. The abundance of food organisms in digestive tract of the clam was high in winter and spring, while low in summer and autumn. But The biomass of phytoplankton in surface sea water revealed the highest value in autumn. Also, the larger the clam size increases the abundance of food organisms in digestive tract. The dominant species in digestive tract were Paralia sulcata and Navicula arenaria such as benthic diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts, whereas the dominant species in surface sea water were Chaetoceros, Skeletonema, Asterionellopsis such as pelagic diatoms in genus, cryptomonads, and P. sulcata. Analyses of digestive tract revealed that benthic diatoms especially represent an important constituent of food organisms in the malina clam and different of phytoplankton size and morphology explain preference for food selectivity.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.241-261
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• 2021

Amphidinium species are amongst the most abundant benthic dinoflagellates in marine intertidal sandy ecosystems. Some of them produce a variety of bioactive compounds that have both harmful effects and pharmaceutical potential. In this study, Amphidinium cells were isolated from intertidal sand collected from the East China Sea. The two strains established were subjected to detailed examination by light, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The vegetative cells had a minute, irregular, and triangular-shaped epicone deflected to the left, thus fitting the description of Amphidinium sensu stricto. These strains are distinguished from other Amphidinium species by combination characteristics: (1) longitudinal flagellum inserted in the lower third of the cell; (2) icicle-shaped scales, 276 ± 17 nm in length, on the cell body surface; (3) asymmetrical hypocone with the left side longer than the right; and (4) presence of immotile cells. Therefore, they are described here as Amphidinium stirisquamtum sp. nov. The molecular tree inferred from small subunit rRNA, large subunit rRNA, and internal transcribed spacer-5.8S sequences revealed that A. stirisquamtum is grouped together with the type species of Amphidinium, A. operculatum, in a fully supported clade, but is distantly related to other Amphidinium species bearing body scale. Live A.stirisquamtum cells greatly affected the survival of rotifers and brine shrimp, their primary grazers, making them more susceptible to predation by the higher tropic level consumers in the food web. This will increase the risk of introducing toxicity, and consequently, the bioaccumulation of toxins through marine food webs.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.497-509
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• 2022

A strain of Amphidinium species was established from samples collected from the intertidal zone of a sandy beach of Jeju Island, Korea. Its cells were 13.0-15.0 ㎛ in length and 10.0-13.0 ㎛ in width. Its cell shape was round or oval and dorsoventrally flat. A pyrenoid was located in the center of the cell and a nucleus was posteriorly located. Its epicone was small and left-deflecting. Its cingulum had V-shape on the ventral side, forming a ventral ridge and extending to the sulcus. Polygonal amphiesmal vesicles and ring-shaped body scales not described previous were observed on the surface of the cell. Its morphological features were consistent with those of previously described Amphidinium fijiense. Phylogeny based on ITS region and LSU rDNA sequences revealed that this Amphidinium isolate was clearly clustered with other A. fijiense strains, but separated from other Amphidinium species. These results indicate that this Amphidinium isolate is A. fijiense. This study reports its presence for the first time in the intertidal zone of a sandy beach of Jeju Island, Korea.