• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.135-145
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• 2019

We investigated the mass occurrence of the salp Salpa fusiformis during spring in the southern waters of Korea and the northern East China Sea. Abundance of S. fusiformis and dominant taxonomic groups including copepods, ostracods, euphausiids, and appendicularian was examined along with environmental factors (e.g., temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration). The abundance of S. fusiformis at 27 stations ranged from 0 to $183\;inds\;m^{-3}$. Both aggregate and solitary forms of S. fusiformis occurred with a mean abundance of $62\;inds\;m^{-3}$ and $4\;inds\;m^{-3}$, and mean body length of 6.5 mm and 15.4 mm, respectively. Redundancy analysis showed that the abundance of S. fusiformis was negatively correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration, indicating the intensive grazing impact of S. fusiformis on phytoplankton. While the abundance of S. fusiformis increased, the species diversity of zooplankton community decreased. The abundances of total copepods and the dominant copepod species (e.g., adults and/or copepodites of Paracalansus parvus s.l., Calanus sinicus, Oithona similis, and Corycaeus affinis) also decreased with the increase of S. fusiformis abundance. However, the abundance of ostracods, euphausiids, and appendicularians was not affected by the mass occurrence of the salps. These results suggest that the mass occurrence of S. fusiformis in spring could negatively affect ecosystem conditions by changing trophodynamics in the zooplankton community.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.171-179
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• 2021

To better understand the ecological functioning of the coastal ecosystem in Gamak Bay on the southern coast of Korea, seasonal changes in the density, biomass, and secondary production of the copepod community were investigated. Environmental measurements (temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a) and copepod sampling were performed seasonally from January to December 2006. The mean density of copepods (excluding nauplii) varied from 949 to 5,999 ind · m^-3; copepod density was at its highest from March to July. The copepod community comprised 32 taxa, including Calanoida, Cyclopoida, and Harpacticoida. The predominant species were Paracalanus parvus s. l., Acartia omorii, Eurytemora pacifica, Oithona similis, A. erythraea, Centropages abdominalis, Pseudodiaptomus marinus, and Calanus sinicus. There were significant spatial and seasonal variations in copepod total biomass, which ranged from 0.33 to 43.10 mg C m^-3. Mean secondary production of the copepods in Gamak Bay, estimated as 2.05 ± 1.63 mg C m^-3 d^-1 using the Huntley and Lopez growth model, was over 2 times higher than the value given by application of the Hirst and Bunker model (1.09 ± 0.85 mg C m^-3 d^-1). The daily production rate to biomass (P/B) ratio varied between 0.08 and 0.86 d^-1 (Huntley and Lopez model), and 0.18 and 0.33 d^-1 (Hirst and Bunker model). Our results emphasize the ecological significance of using models to estimate the secondary production of copepods and provides the first report of copepod production in Gamak Bay.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.527-536
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• 1996

The patterns of diel horizontal migration (DHM) of 7 copepod species are compared as part of a general investigation of the zooplankton adaptations to the surf zone habitats. In a sandy shore surf zone of Yongil Bay, 3 sites such as the bottom and surface of 1 m water depth and water's edge are sampled with a sledge net(n=108). The surf zone copepod assemblage is dominated by 7 species; Acartia hudsonica, Fseudodiaptomus marinus, Paracalanus indicus, Calanus sinicus, Oithona similis, Sinocalanus tenellus and Labidocera bipinnata. Threefold variations in copepod abundance are observed within a diel cycle. Abundances of 7 dominant species and total copepods captured in the surface exhibit significant diel differences, but those taken in the bottom are not significantly affected by diel period. It is shown that about $90\%$ of the surf zone copepods performed DHM. The nocturnal high densities of copepods occurred for a neap tide when the offshore winds prevailed, suggesting the animals' ability for horizontal orientation and an active locomotion without invoking passive transportation by currents. Photoreactive behavior of copepods triggered by relative changes in light intensity may be a primary factor inducing DHM by aggregating in the surf zone during the night and spreading out at day; then copepods may reduce encounters with visual predators. In A. hudsonica, ontogenetic variations in timings of DHM are evident. Such variations are likely to minimize intraspecific competition for diets. Data on shoreward migration of copepods indicate that A. hudsonica, P. indicus, O. similis and S. tenellus can maintain swimming velocities of about $20m\;h^{-1}$ for durations of more than an hour. Our observations of strong diel difference in abundances point out the need for both day and night samplings in surf zone habitats, if the importance of these habitats to planktonic copepods are to be fully understood.