• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.986-995
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to analyze the distribution of endangered fish species and elucidate their relations on chemical water quality, physical habitat conditions and ecological stream health. The dominant species in the watershed was Pseudopungtungia nigra (Pn), Gobiobotia macrocephala (Gm), Gobiobotia brevibarba (Gb), Liobagrus obesus (Lo), and Iksookimia choii (Ic) in the order. The species of Pn designated as "critical endangered species (I) (CER)", was most widely distributed species among the endangered species, so the designation of the species should be re-evaluated. The endangered species was most popular (4 species, 384 individuals) in the Cho-River region of eighteen lotic regions. According to the analysis of chemical tolerance limits in the habitats with endangered fish species, biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total phosphorus (TP) was analyzed as "very good" (Ia) and "good condition" in the chemical criteria of the Ministry of Environment, Korea. Also, chemical conditions, based on ammonia-N ($NH_{4+}$), total nitrogen (TN), phosphate-P ($PO_{4^-}P$) were much better in the habitat with endangered species (Hw) than the habitat without endangered species (Ho). In the meantime, the species of Ic showed wide ranges on the chemical tolerance, so physical habitat conditions, such as the size of substrate particles (sand) and hydrological regime, were considered as more important factors than the chemical water quality, if the water quality is not largely degraded. The endangered species were also more distributed in the high-order (4-6) streams than the low-order (1-3) streams. The evaluation of ecological stream health, based on multi-metric model of the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), showed the large difference between the Hw (21.6, fair condition)and Ho (30.5, good condition), indicating that the habitat maintained well chemically and physically had higher distributions of endangered species. Overall, the designation of CER on the Pn should be re-evaluated due to wide-distributions, and the protections from water pollution and the habitat conservations on the endangered species are necessary in the watershed.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 2011

Gene structure of copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD; sod1) was characterized in Hemibarbus mylodon (Teleostei; Cypriniformes), an endangered freshwater fish species in Korean peninsula. Full-length cDNA of H. mylodon SOD1 consisted of a 796-bp open reading frame sequence encoding 154 amino acids, and the deduced polypeptide sequence shared high sequence homology with other orthologs, particularly with regard to metal-coordinating ligands. Genomic structure of the H. mylodon sod1 gene (hmsod1; 1,911 bp from the ATG start codon to the stop codon) was typical quinquepartite (i.e., five exons interrupted by four introns); the lengths of the exons were similar among species belonging to various taxonomic positions. The molecular phylogeny inferred from sod1 genes in the teleost lineage was in accordance with the conventional taxonomic assumptions. 5'-flanking upstream region of hmsod1, obtained using the genome walking method, contained typical TATA and CAAT boxes. It also showed various transcription factor binding motifs that may be potentially involved in stress/immune response (e.g., sites for activating proteins or nuclear factor kappa B) or metabolism of xenobiotic compounds (e.g., xenobiotic response element; XRE). The hmsod1 transcripts were ubiquitously detected among tissues, with the liver and spleen showing the highest and lowest expression, respectively. An experimental challenge with Edwardsiella tarda revealed significant upregulation of the hmsod1 in kidney (4.3-fold) and spleen (3.1-fold), based on a real-time RT-PCR assay. Information on the molecular characteristics of this key antioxidant enzyme gene could be a useful basis for a biomarker-based assay to understand cellular stresses in this endangered fish species.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.234-241
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• 2011

Habitat, reproduction and feeding habit of endangered fish Koreocobitis naktongensis from Jaho stream, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea were investigated from March 2010 to June 2011. This species inhabits at the upper and middle parts of stream, which were composed of cobbles and pebbles bottom. The current velocities in these microhabitat were 5~10 cm/sec and depth were 50~110cm. The sex ratio of female to male was 1 : 0.92. It is presumed that the spawning season is from May to June when water temperatures were 17 ~ 20$^{\circ}C$. The average number of mature eggs in ovary were about 22,643 (15,909~30,323), mean egg diameter was 0.87${\pm}$0.05mm. K. naktongensis fed mainly on Chironomidae (IRI, 72.0%) and Ephydridae (26.9%) of Diptera.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.248-254
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• 2007

Representative cDNA libraries were constructed from various tissue sources of Hemibarbus mylodon, an endangered freshwater fish species in Korea, for the mining of expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Randomized and non-normalized EST analysis was performed with 7 unidirectional cDNA libraries generated from brain, intestine, kidney, liver, muscle, ovary or testis. Of 3,383 ESTs in total, the number of singleton was 2,029, and 333 contigs containing 1,354 ESTs were assembled (percent of unigene = 70.0%). Abundantly expressed gene transcripts and broad clustering of putative gene function were tissue-specific in general, and the redundancy was also variable among those libraries. Over half of H. mylodon ESTs were matched with orthologues from other teleosts among which zebrafish gene sequences were the most frequent in those matches. This initial setting of EST libraries achieved in the present study would be a fundamental basis for the banking of gene resources from this endangered fish species.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.71-74
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• 2018

The karyotype analysis of an endangered freshwater fish, Microphysogobio koreensis, was performed to obtain basic data for phylogenetic information. To carry out our study, 4 specimens were collected in Seomjingang River and Nakdongang River and its kidney was treated by flame-drying method. The chromosome number of this species demonstrated 50 diploid chromosomes, with two populations of M. koreensis not significantly different. The karyotype revealed 2n=26m+24sm, consisting of 26 metacentric (m) and 24 submetacentric (sm) chromosomes with the total fundamental arm number determined as FN=100. Total arm length and arm ratio of the chromosomes were $1.44{\sim}2.68{\mu}m$ and 1.27~2.27, respectively. The karyotype of M. koreensis was first reported in this study.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2021

The Nakdong nose loach, Koreocobitis naktongensis is an endangered freshwater fish endemic to Korea. The spawning behaviour of the K. naktongensis was observed after treating Ovaprim in laboratory aquarium from 20~27 April 2010. The behavioral patterns were categorized into three stages of pre-spawning, spawning and post-spawning behaviors. Before spawning K. naktongensis usually repeated taking a rest and swimming. On average, initial spawning activity started 11 to 12 hours later after injection with Ovaprim. During the spawning period, the number of spawning acts ranged from 1 to 18. The spawning ratio of female to male was 1 : 1. The male embraced the back of the female's dorsal fin with his lamina circularis. It looked like a complete circle at that time. After spawning, parental care was not observed. Individuals not participating in spawning have been observed to feed on some of the fertilized eggs.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.378-384
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• 2007

Some of ecological factors and the early life history of endangered freshwater fish, Pseusobagrus brevicorpus, were investigated to proliferate artificially and to restore the population by release seedlings. The density of population in restricted area by small scale dam was 1.25 ind. $m^{-2}$, and the low capacity for reproduction having 200$\sim$250 eggs ind$^{-1}$. were thought to be a reason of this endangered situation. From the result of induction of natural spawning in aquarium after hormone injection it was considered that the spawning substrate would be aquatic plants with slender branches. The hatching was observed after 50 hrs after fertilization and the larvae showed aggressive behavior. Yolk was almost absorbed 3 days after hatching, and the larvae shaped tad-pole grew up to fry after 30 days. We discussed on the strategies for conservation of this species according to those results from investigation on ecology and early life history.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.196-200
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• 2008

Korean spotted barbel Hemibarbus mylodon, is an endangered and endemic freshwater species in the Korean peninsula. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to analyze the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of three populations (Bukhan, Namhan and Imjin-river). Fifteen AFLP primer pairs produced 795 products of which 135 were polymorphic(17%). Percentages of polymorphic bands were similar among the three populations, with accounting 11.9%, 11.1%, and 13.4% for Bukhan, Namhan and Imjin-river populations, respectively. An average genetic similarity among the three populations was 0.969. The average heterozygosity (0.033-0.040) and genetic diversity (0.036-0.043) were significantly low. Pairwise distance and fixation index analyses of three populations also suggested quite a low genetic differentiation one another. These results would provide a fundamental baseline data to develop the effective strategy for the management and restoration of this endangered fish species.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.27-43
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• 2017

The objectives of the study were to evaluate fish compositions, endangered species, community structure, physical habitat, and general water quality for a preliminary environmental impact assessment of Jeokbyeok River on the road construction between two regions. Total number of species and total number of individuals, based on CPUE, were 23 and 1186, respectively. The endangered species (I, II) as the legal protection species were Pseudopungtungia nigra (79 samples) Gobiobotia brevibarba) (5) Gobiobotia macrocephala (2), indicating a requiring of endangered species conservation. In the meantime, exotic species and ecological disturbing species such as Micropterus salmoides and Lepomis macrochirus, were not present, indicating a well conserved area. According to fish community analysis, values of species diversity index were high (range: 0.788 - 1.030), and the dominance index were low (range: 0.097 - 0.183), indicating that the fish community in this area was maintained well without high dominacne by specific species. Also, fish analysis on tolerance guilds and trophic guilds showed that the proportions of sensitive species were largely exceeded the proportions of the tolerant species, while the proportions of insectivore species were largely exceeded the proportions of the omnivore species. This outcome suggests that the ecosystem was well maintained in terms of tolerance and trophic compositions (food chain). Ecological health, based on the multi-metric fish model of Fish Assessment Integrity (FAI), reflected those fish conditions. In other words, values of FAI model averaged 82.4, which means a "good condition" in the criteria of ecological health by the Minstry of Environment, Korea. In addition, general water quality and physical habitat analyses showed that the system was in good condition. Under these conditions, if the road constructions between the two regions happen in the future, inorganic suspended solids may increase in the waterbody, and this may result in indirect or direct influences on the physical habitats and food chain as well as fish compositions, so the ecological protections and prevention strategy from the soil erosion are required in the system.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.42-52
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• 2021

In order to secure basic data on biodiversity for wetland conservation and management used the data from Wetland Protected Area surveys conducted in South Korea (2015-2019) to analyze the distribution of fish from a total of 15 orders, 45 families, 134 species, and 12,972 individuals. The predominant species identified were Zacco platypus (Temminck and Schlegel) (19.47%) and Zacco koreanus (Kim, Oh and Hosoya) (8.16%). Of all emergent species, 52.9% (n=71 species) were freshwater species, 26.9% (n=36) were brackish species, 3.0% (n=4) were migratory species, 27% (n=36) were marine species, and 9.0% (n=12) were riffle benthic species. Overall, 5.2% (n=7 species) were endangered species, 3.0% (n=4) were exotic species, and 23.1% (n=31) were Korean endemic species. The eight identified Wetland Protected Areas (WPA) were classified based on their habitat characteristics and on the analysis of their emergent fish communities, as estuarine (n=2), coastal dune (n=1), marsh (n=2), stream (n=2), and stream-marsh (n=1) types. The environmental factors revealed to have the greatest influence on the species diversity of emergent fish were maintenance and repair, installation of reservoirs, and construction of artificial wetlands around them. The present study offers basic information on the diversity of fish species in different Wetland Protected Area types that can be used to inform conservation and management decisions for WPA.