• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.99-110
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• 1991

Species composition, abundance, seasonality and age composition of the fish assemblage were studied in the coastal shallow water off Shinsudo, Samchonpo. The fishes were collected by gill net from February 1984 to January 1985. Of the 32 fish species collected, the common species throughout the year were Agrammus agrammus, Hexagrammos otakii, Sebastes inermis and Lateolabrax japonicus, which comprised $73.9\%$ in numbers and $73.1\%$ in weight. The mean monthly diversity index was 1.85. The diversity was the highest in October(H'=2.25) and the lowest in April(H'=1.34). In age composition of the four species, A. agrammus and S. inermis consisted of 5 age groups from 0 to 4, H otakii consisted of 4 age groups from 0 to 3 and 1. japonicus consisted of 3 age groups from 0 to 2.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.443-448
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• 2002

A study on the ichthyoplankton assemblage was conducted around Dokdo in the East Sea in September 1999 and May 2000. Sixteen species of fish larvae including eggs were collected during the surveys. Anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) eggs and larvae were comprised of 2.0% and 94.5% of total samples in number, respectively. Muller's pearlside (Maurolicus muelleri) eggs and larvae were comprised of 95.0% and 3.2%, respectively. The other species mostly composed of warm water species were less than 2% of total samples in number. The number of species and abundance of the fish lawae and eggs were higher in September than in May. Although there were limited data on the ichthyoplankton around Dokdo in summer and winter, this study area seems to be used for the spawning or nursery ground of fishes.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.392-402
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• 2012

In this study, to analyze the stream health using fish assemblage and make effective management, we conducted fish monitoring in the Hoeya River basin and neighboring streams. A total of 33 species classified into 12 families were collected from 29 sites in 2007. Dominant species was Zacco platypus (Relative abundance, RA: 24.8%), and subdominant species was Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (RA: 16.2%). Eight Korean endemic species and 4 exotic species were identified. Moreover, two species (Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis and Hemiculter eigenmanni) were translocated from other basin. To evaluate stream health of the study sites, Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) was applied, based on fish assemblages. Overall, IBI values were "C (Fair)" or "D (Poor)" condition, according to the grade except two sites which recorded "B (Good)". The correlation between land use pattern of surrounding watershed and IBI was analyzed to verify impact of development on stream health using fish assemblage. As a result, when percentage of the developmental groups increased, IBI values were decreased (Pearson correlation, r=-0.425, p=0.022). In contrast, increment of percent forest and grass land was positively correlated with IBI (r=0.556, p=0.002). The agricultural group and IBI did not significantly correlate with each other (r=-0.231, p=0.333). In this study, we identified a relationship between land use of surrounding watershed and stream health using fish data (i.e. IBI). These results could be provided useful fundamental information to establish management and restoration plan in the Hoeya River basin and other rivers distributed in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.645-653
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• 2014

We examined seasonal variation in fish species composition in coastal waters near Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in the East Sea of Korea. A total of 72 species, 39 families, 14 orders, 46,214 individuals, and 4,639,667 g were collected. Glyptocephalus stelleri was the most dominant species by number of individuals (35%), followed by Clupea pallasii (26%). Liparis tanakai and Lophius litulon were the dominant species by biomass, accounting for 46% and 28%, respectively. We showed that bottom salinity and temperature are the most important environmental factors influencing fish species composition. Although bottom salinity did not differ statistically among seasons or stations, we detected some variation among stations. Additionally, bottom temperature differed among seasons and stations (P<0.05), affecting numbers of individuals and biomass. Thus, seasonal variation in fish assemblages can be classified into two groups: spring/summer and autumn/winter.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.156-164
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• 2020

The accurate estimation of fish assemblages is highly dependent on the sampling gear used for sampling. We used data from 15 sampling sites along the Nakdong River, which is a large river in South Korea, to identify differences in assemblages and sizes of freshwater fishes collected with either cast nets or gill nets, the two most commonly used sampling gear in South Korea. The two gears differed in the fish assemblages they captured, with more species caught by gill nets. Further, due to its tighter mesh size, the cast net caught significantly smaller fishes than the gill nets(independent t-test, p<0.05). We found the cast net to be appropriate for species that inhabit shallow (less than 2 m) and open water, but inappropriate for deep water, habitats with plant beds, and nocturnal species. Thus, cast net sampling is not efficient in a large river environment, and a combination of sampling methods is more suitable for understanding fish assemblages in such habitats. In general, appropriate selection of fishing methods to specific habitats is necessary to improve data quality and minimize the misrepresentation of environmental conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.131-138
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• 2014

The study aims at analyzing a species composition of the fish live in bottom of the coastal waters off Geomun island, Korea. To reach the goal of the study, a species composition and it's monthly fluctuation, a monthly fluctuation of the dominant species and it's appearance type was analyzed the fishes caught by the bottom trawl. The result obtained can be summerrized as follows; Fish caught in this area composes 14 orders, 34 families, and 47 species. The largest number of fish species was Perciformes (15 families and 19 species). The most dominant species in an number of fish was jhon dory, Zeus faber which was occupied at 22.5% from the whole number, the second most dominant species was horse mackerel, Trachurus japonicus which was occupied at 21.2%. Four groups were categorized based on appearance time period.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.84-96
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• 2022

Most of the islands of Korea are distributed in the South and West Sea, and it consists of independent small stream. As a result, the fish community that inhabits the island's stream is isolated from the mainland and other island. This study utilized a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and a random forest model to analyze the relationship between environmental variables and fish communities inhabiting islands in South Korea. Through the SOM analysis, the fish communities were divided into three clusters, and there were differences in biotic and abiotic factors between these groups. Cluster I consisted of sites with relatively larger island areas and a higher number of species and population. It was found that 15 out of 16 indicator species were included. Meanwhile, the remaining clusters had fewer species and populations. Cluster II, especially, showed the lowest impact from physical variables such as water width and depth. As a result of predicting the species richness using the random forest model, physical variables in habitats, such as stream width and water depth, had a relatively higher importance on species richness. On the other hand, forest area was the most important variables for predicting Shannon diversity, followed by maximum water depth, and gravel. The results suggest that this study can be used as basic data for establishing a stream ecosystem management strategy in terms of conservation and protection of biological resources in streams of islands.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.141-155
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• 2020

Species composition of fish in the shallow water at Daecheon beach was determined using monthly beach seine samples collected from April 2010 to March 2011. These data were compared with the previous data, one just after reclamation in 1984-1985, and the other in 1995-96, in order to assess the post-reclamation impact of the environmental change on the fish assemblage. A total of 30 species from 1,464 individuals with biomass of 17,808 g were identified. Dominant species in the number of individuals were Chelon haematocheilus (49.3%), Takifugu niphobles (13.7%) and Paralichthys olivaceus (10.0%). Among pelagic fish, migrant juvenile fish such as Sardinella zunasi and Thryssa kammalensis were abundantly collected in 1984-85, but the catch amount was gradually decreased as time untill only few pelagic fish were collected in 2010-2011. The benthic fish were most abundant in 1984-1985 among habitat groups, and Favonigobius gymnauchen and Kareius bicoloratus were the top two predominants. Species composition of benthic fish did not exhibited drastic changes in 1995-1996, but both the abundance decline and the species composition change was evident in 2010-2011. Among the semi-benthic fish from 1984-1985 samples, Sillago japonica and Konosirus punctatus predominated. Species composition was slightly changed in 1995-1996, but significant changes were met in 2010-2011 with the two predominats, Chelon haematocheilus and Takifufu niphobles. These changes in fish species composition may reflect the post-reclamation effect of the impaired water quality and the accumulation of organic rich fine sediments.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2019

Background: Habitat selectivity and ecology of freshwater fishes were studied in two selected streams and their junction point which consist a total of 39 microhabitats. The aims of this study were to describe the habitat preference and its availability to fish assemblage, as well as ecology, habitat use, and habitat characteristics. Methods: We collected fish with backpack electrofishing three times during August 2013, December 2013, and March 2014. Using a variation partitioning approach of R software, we studied the relationship of fish abundances with stream type, habitat type, and abundance of key macroinvertebrate taxa. Results: A total of 6554 fishes representing four species belonging to the family Cyprinidae were caught. A higher total fish abundance was recorded from Gereb Tsedo (4870; 74.3%) than from Elala stream (1684; 25.7%). Taking both streams together, the overall total relative fish abundance was significantly higher in pools (53%) than in runs (35%) and in riffles (12%) at P < 0.05. Species-wise comparisons showed that 71%, 15%, 13%, and 1% of the pool fish community were occupied by Garra blanfordii, Garra ignestii, Garra dembecha, and Garra aethiopica, respectively. Stream type, habitat type, and key macroinvertebrate taxa each explained a significant proportion of the variation in fish abundance. Based on the variation partitioning approach, fish abundance was higher in Gereb Tsedo stream (P < 0.01). Moreover, fish abundance increased with pool habitat type (P < 0.01) and with availability of key macroinvertebrate taxa (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Fish abundance differed between stream types, among habitats and among key macroinvertebrate taxa availability. Among the factors, habitat type was the most important driving factor behind variation among fish abundances, and pool supports the highest fish abundance.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.298-310
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• 2022

Although giant and large fish species are highly important as a keystone species in the marine ecosystem, there have been no or few studies on their spatio-temporal variations around the Korean peninsula. For this, we analyzed daily reports made by observers at 57 fishery landing sites in Korea over 6 years, from 2011 to 2016. In total, 153 fish species were re-identified based on photos and descriptions recorded by Korean observers, of which five species were classified as a giant fish over 5 m in maximum total length (MTL) and 17 species as a large fish from 3 m to 5 m MTL according to the data presented by Froese & Pauly (2021). Among the giant and large fish species, Mola mola was the most abundant species, with 75 individuals landed as by-catch. The second most abundant species was Isurus oxyrinchus (31), followed by Mobula mobular (23), Lamna ditropis (17), Masturus lanceolatus (16), Sphyrna zygaena (14), and Prionace glauca (12). As a result of cluster analysis based on the number of individuals of giant and large fish species by year and sea, six years were separated into two clusters (2011-2013 vs. 2014-2016), with high contribution of M. mola, I. oxyrinchus, and M. lanceolatus; and three seas were separated into two clusters (eastern + southern seas vs. western sea), with high contribution of M. lanceolatus, L. ditropis, and I. oxyrinchus. The largest number of M. mola accounted for 64% of the total in 2014 and 2016, and 71% in summer (June-August). It is assumed to have a correlation between seawater temperature fluctuation and the occurrence of giant and large fish species. Our study highlights importance of longterm monitoring of giant and large fish species, and can help to understand the life cycle such as natal or nursery migration of giant and large fish species around the Korean peninsula.