• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.247-256
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• 2021

Understanding the selective feeding behavior of zooplankton on phytoplankton is essential for evaluating the nutrient cycle and energy flow in the food web. Although many studies have been conducted regarding the feeding behaviors of zooplankton through gut content analyses, there are limitations in the visual identification of digested contents using a microscope. DNA techniques have been applied to overcome these limitations since they can detect and amplify small amounts of prey DNA remaining in the gut contents. We designed a method to extract prey DNA from the gut contents of the whole body of the copepod specimen and tested the resolution of DNA identification for the prey phytoplankton. The common brackish species, Sinocalanus tenellus, were collected from Saemangeum Reservoir in different sites and seasons, and gut content DNA was extracted using 2.5% bleach treatment for 2 min for removal of potential contamination sources existing in preserved specimens without dissolution of the body. The sequences of the extracted gut contents were confirmed using BLASTn suite based on the NCBI database. The phytoplankton species detected in the gut showed temporal and spatial differences. Although DNA analysis of small copepod gut contents has been suggested as an effective method to examine the dynamics of primary prey sources at the genus or species level, uncertainties such as misidentification and limitations in the detailed information of the composition still exist.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.149-161
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• 2022

Noctiluca scintillans is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate that causes red-colored oceans during the day (red tides) and glowing oceans at night (bioluminescence). This species feeds on diverse prey, including phytoplankton, heterotrophic protists, and eggs of metazoans. Thus, many scientists have conducted studies on the ecophysiology of this species. It is easy to cultivate N. scintillans at a scale of <1 L, but it is difficult to cultivate them at a scale of >100 L because N. scintillans cells usually stay near the surface, while prey cells stay below the surface in large water tanks. To obtain mass-cultured N. scintillans cells, we developed an automatic system for cultivating N. scintillans on a scale of 100 L. The system consisted of four tanks containing fresh nutrients, the chlorophyte Dunaliella salina as prey, N. scintillans for growth, and N. scintillans for storage, respectively. The light intensities supporting the high growth rates of D. salina and N. scintillans were 300 and 20 µmol photons m^-2 s^-1, respectively. Twenty liters of D. salina culture from the prey culture tank were transferred to the predator culture tank, and subsequently 20 L of nutrients from the nutrient tank were transferred to the prey culture tank every 2 d. When the volume of N. scintillans in the predator culture tank reached 90 L 6 d later, 70 L of the culture were transferred to the predator storage tank. To prevent N. scintillans cells from being separated from D. salina cells in the predator culture tank, the culture was mixed using an air pump, a sparger, and a stirrer. The highest abundance of N. scintillans in the predator culture tank was 45 cells mL^-1, which was more than twice the highest abundance when this dinoflagellate was cultivated manually. This automatic system supplies 100 L of N. scintillans pure culture with a high density every 10 d for diverse experiments on N. scintillans.

• ALGAE
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2023

The mortality rate of red-tide dinoflagellates owing to predation is a major parameter that affects their population dynamics. The dinoflagellates Ansanella granifera and Ansanella sp. occasionally cause red tides. To understand the interactions between common heterotrophic protists and A. granifera, we explored the feeding occurrence of nine heterotrophic protists on A. granifera and the growth and ingestion rates of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Gyrodinium dominans on A. granifera as a function of prey concentration and those of Oxyrrhis marina at a single high prey concentration. The heterotrophic dinoflagellates Aduncodinium glandula, G. dominans, Gyrodinium moestrupii, Luciella masanensis, Oblea rotunda, O. marina, Polykrikos kofoidii, and Pfiesteria piscicida and the naked ciliate Strombidium sp. were able to feed on A. granifera. With increasing mean prey concentrations, the growth and ingestion rates of G. dominans feeding on A. granifera rapidly increased and became saturated or slowly increased. The maximum growth and ingestion rates of G. dominans on A. granifera were 0.305 d^-1 and 0.42 ng C predator^-1 d^-1 (3.8 cells predator^-1 d^-1), respectively. Furthermore, the growth and ingestion rates of O. marina on A. granifera at 1,700 ng C mL^-1 (15,454 cells mL^-1) were 0.037 d^-1 and 0.19 ng C predator^-1 d^-1 (1.7 cells predator^-1 d^-1), respectively. The growth and ingestion rates of G. dominans and O. marina feeding on A. granifera were almost the lowest among those on the dinoflagellate prey species. Therefore, G. dominans and O. marina may prefer A. granifera less than other dinoflagellate prey species. The low mortality rate of A. granifera may positively affect its bloom formation.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.183-188
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• 2023

As a result of analyzing 469 Armoured cusk, Hoplobrotula armata, the range of total length was 10.5~63.5 cm and average total length was 30.3 cm. Using the IRI, shrimps were mainly prey component constituted 63.6%, followed by fishes, crabs, anomurans. The result of analysis in ontogenetic changes, shrimps were the most dominant prey in all size groups except for the ≥40.0 cm size group, and fishes were the most dominant prey in the size group of ≥40.0 cm. When the mean number of prey per stomach (mN/ST) and the mean weight of prey per stomach (mW/ST) were analyzed, mN/ST showed a significant difference (one-way ANOVA, P<0.05), but mW/ST did not (one-way ANOVA, P>0.05).

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.347-353
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• 2023

Zenopsis nebulosa were collected by bottom trawl net from 20 areas in the South Sea of Korea during 2021 (February, May, August, November). The range of total length was 10.1~50.2 cm and empty stomach rate was 45.8%. The most important prey of Z. nebulosa was Pisces, with Trichiurus japonicus, Trachurus japonicus and Benthosema pterotum. And the second important prey was Euphausiacea. Z. nebulosa showed dietary shift by size class. In the <20.0 cm size class, Trachurus japonicus was dominant prey item. In the 20.0~25.0 cm size class, Trichiurus japonicus was dominant prey item. In the ≥25.0 cm size class, B. pterotum was dominant prey item. Analysis of the mean weight of preys per stomach (mW/ST) increased with individual size.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.68-76
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• 2024

To reveal the feeding ecology of Rhynchocypris semotilus, the survey was conducted in Songhyeoncheon, Songhyeon-ri, Hyeonnae-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do in April 2022. As a result of analyzing the contents of the stomach using the index of relative importance (IRI), the important prey organisms were mainly Trichoptera (46.6%), Ephemeroptera (27.6%), Diptera (12.6%), Odonata (9.7%), Plecoptera (2.8%), Coleoptera (0.6%), and Hemiptera (0.1%) of Class Insecta, Phylum Arthropoda in that order. As a result of analyzing the trend by calculating the index of relative importance (IRI) for each age, it was found that those born in the same year mainly feed on relatively small Ephemeroptera and Diptera, but the proportion of these gradually decreases as they grow. And the proportion of relatively large Trichoptera and Odonata gradually increased, turning them into the most important food source for those over 3 years old. Additionally, prey size was the smallest at 2.8±2.5 (0.6 to 9.0) mm for individuals born in the same year, but gradually increased to 5.1±6.1 (1.1 to 17.0) mm for individuals born more than 3 years. As a result of examining prey selectivity, Plecoptera (+0.78), Trichoptera (+0.66), (+0.66), Coleoptera (+0.66), and Hemiptera (+0.03) showed positive selectivity, while Amphipoda (-1.00), Ephemeroptera (-0.24), Odonata (-0.13) and Diptera (-0.05) showed negative selectivity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.275-287
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• 2013

The Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus is a widespread species in the western North Pacific and major fishery resource. To understand the spatio-temporal variation of anchovy prey items in the coastal waters of southern Korea, the stomach contents of anchovy and the structure of the zooplankton community were analysed at three sites (Jindo, Yeosu and Tong-yeong) from July 2011 to February 2012. The main prey items in Yeosu and Jindo were cyprid stage of barnacle (>35%) and copepod Calanus sinicus (>22%) in July, respectively, while, predominant ones in Tongyeong were small copepods, Paracalanus parvus s.l. (41%) and Corycaeus affinis (22%). During this period, the dominant zooplankton were cladoceran Evadne tergestina (39%) in Yeosu, small copepod, P. parvus s.l. (28%) in Jindo and cladoceran E. tergestina (14%) in Tongyeong. The dominant prey items were barnacle larvae and copepods in summer, phytoplankton and Pseudodiaptomus marinus in autumn and P. parvus s.l. and cold water copepod, Centropages abdominalis in winter. Anchovy prefer the prey item C. sinicus (3%) over E. tergestina (39%), which was a dominant species in the catching site in summer. P. marinus (0.5%) and C. abdominalis (0.9%) were preferred over P. parvus s.l. (30%, 21%) in autumn and winter, respectively. Prey items varied with area and season in the coastal waters of southern Korea. These results suggest that the prey selectivity of anchovy showed high flexibility and adaptability in the study waters.

• Kyungpook Mathematical Journal
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.503-514
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• 2008

We investigate a three-species food chain system with Lotka-Volterra functional response and impulsive perturbations. In [23], Zhang and Chen have studied the system. They have given conditions for extinction of lowest-level prey and top predator and considered the local stability of lower-level prey and top predator eradication periodic solution. However, they did not give a condition for permanence, which is one of important facts in population dynamics. In this paper, we establish the condition for permanence of the three-species food chain system with impulsive perturbations. In addition, we give some numerical examples.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2006

The feeding habits of John Dory (Zeus faber) were studied by examining the stomach contents of 317 specimens collected from January 2004 to December 2005 in the coastal waters off Gori, Korea. The standard length (SL) of the specimens ranged from 12 to 42 cm. Z. faber is a piscivore and consumes mainly teleost fish such as Psenopsis anomala, Trichiurus lepturus and Conger myriaster. Its diet also includes shrimp and cephalopods. Smaller individuals (<25 cm SL) consume shrimp and small fish such as Glossanodon semifasciatus. The proportion of these prey items decreases with increasing fish size, and this decrease is paralleled by increased consumption of lager fish such as Psenopsis anomala and Trichiurus lepturus. The prey size increases with Z. faber size.

• Kyungpook Mathematical Journal
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.265-285
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• 2017

In this article, a mathematical model is proposed and analyzed to study the delayed dynamics of a system having a predator and two preys with distinct growth rates and functional responses. The equilibrium points of proposed system are determined and the local stability at each of the possible equilibrium points is investigated by its corresponding characteristic equation. The boundedness of the system is established in the absence of delay and the condition for existence of persistence in the system is determined. The discrete type gestational delay of predator is also incorporated on the system. Further it is proved that the system undergoes Hopf bifurcation using delay as bifurcation parameter. This study refers that time delay may have an impact on the stability of the system. Finally Computer simulations illustrate the dynamics of the system.