• Development and Reproduction
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2009

In most larvae of ascidian, two sensory pigment cells, otolith and ocellus, lie in their brain vesicle. They also have a third type of sensory cells: hydrostatic pressure receptor (Hpr) cells. The Hpr cells were presumed to be hydrostatic pressure-detection cells, but their precise functions is still disputed. In this study, we investigated whether an FGF signaling is involved in formation of Hpr cells. When fertilized eggs were injected with Hr-FGF9/16/20 antisense MO, the resulting larvae showed severe abnormalities with no expression of the Hpr cell-specific Hpr-1 antigen. Similar results were obtained using an FGF receptor inhibitor, SU5402, and an MEK inhibitor, U0126. Embryos treated with SU5402 or U0126 during the 32-cell and hatching stages did not express the Hpr-1 antigen. To elucidate the temporal requirement for the FGF signaling in formation of Hpr cells, embryos were treated with SU5402 for 2 h, or U0126 for 20 min during various embryonic stages. Larvae treated with SU5402 from the 16-cell stage to the 64-cell stage did not express the Hpr-1 antigen, whereas those treated at the early gastrula stage expressed the Hpr-1 antigen. When U0126 treatment was carried out at various stages between the 8-cell and late gastrula stages, larvae scarcely formed the Hpr cells. They showed expression of the Hpr-1 antigen when embryos were placed in U0126 just before the neural plate stage. These results suggest that FGF9/16/20 signaling is involved in formation of Hpr cells from the primary neural induction stage to the late gastrula stage.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.377-385
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• 2015

The age and growth of the skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis were determined using otoliths sampled from a Korean tuna purse seine fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean from January 2005 to September 2006. A total of 312 otoliths were used to estimate the ages of skipjack tuna, which ranged from 1 to 7 years. The relationships between otolith ring radius (R) and fork length (FL) for female, male, and sex combined were FL = 19.74R + 1.50 ($r^2=0.54$), FL = 17.66R + 6.35 ($r^2=0.47$), and FL = 18.83R + 3.36 ($r^2=0.53$), respectively. The back-calculated fork lengths of each age ($FL_{year}$) were $FL_1=36.2cm$, $FL_2=43.3cm$, $FL_3=48.3cm$, $FL_4=52.6cm$, $FL_5=56.5cm$, $FL_6=60.8cm$, and $FL_7=63.2cm$. The relationships between fork length (FL) and total weight (TW) for female, male, and sex combined were $TW=0.00001FL^{3.19}(r^2=0.95)$, $TW=0.00001FL^{3.17}(r^2=0.95)$, and $TW=0.000009FL^{3.23}(r^2=0.95)$, respectively. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters of skipjack tuna estimated in this study were $L_{\infty}=77.4cm$, K = 0.176/year, and $t_0=-2.569years$.