• Animal cells and systems
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.199-203
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• 2005

We studied the effectiveness of mating call playbacks on call monitoring of three-striped pond frogs (Rana nigromaculata). Playback experiments were conducted between 2100 to 0030 at 15 sites located at Chungwon, Chungbuk, and Yeongi, Chungnam, in May 2005. We recorded call responses of 25 males to two different call playbacks, (i) single mating calls from a single male and (ii) chorus mating calls from five males, by randomly presenting the calls with a 15 min-gap between the two playbacks. We compared the number of response calls of the focal males for three min before, during, and after the playbacks. Five of 25 males were silent before stimulus presentation, but all the males emitted calls after the playbacks. The number of calls in response to single playback calls significantly differed among the three playback periods, where males gave more calls during the playback than before or after the playbacks. In addition, subject males presented significantly more calls to single call playbacks than to chorus call playbacks. The results of this study suggest that playback using repeated single mating calls is effective in call monitoring of R. nigromaculata males.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.427-432
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• 2013

A new trichostome ciliate, Balantidium honghuensis n. sp., was isolated from the recta of Rana nigromaculata and R. limnocharis during parasite surveys in Honghu Lake, Hubei Province, central China in summmer of 2010 and 2011. Its detailed morphometric characters based on LM and SEM studies were described herein. The organism is oval in shape and thickly ciliated. The vestibulum is "V" shaped and occupies about 1/3 to 2/5 of the body length. The vestibular and nearby regions possess strong peripheral fibers which form a marked axial fiber about the cytopharynx. More than 10 contractile vacuoles are distributed along the periphery of the latter body. Comparisions were made between this new species and B. sinensis Nie, 1935. They were discriminated from each other in terms of general body forms, body size, and vestibulum shapes. Besides, special attention was paid to its high-speed daughter swarmers which we believed to be the infective stage of B. honghuensis. Possible infection routes of anura amphibian balantidia were discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.193-202
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• 1983

Inversion at variable time of the uncleaved eggs of Rana nigromaculata and Rana dybowskii was emplyed to study the mechanisms of early embryogenesis. The response to inversion varied between those two spcies. If the eggs were inverted at early time it was possible to change the site of the first cleavage furrow of Rana nigromaculata-it appeared on the original vegetal hemisphere (OpG side). However, the first cleavage furrow of Rana dybowskii was not changed at all no matter what its inversin time was-it always appeared on the original animal hemisphere (G. side). In the inverted Rana nigromaculata embryos the size of the blastomeres on the vegetal hemisphere was always smaller than those of animal hemisphere. On the ocntrary, the cleavage pattern of Rana dybowskii was not altered. Results of the histological works for the inverted eggs suggest that the different responses to inversion might be caused by the fact that the extent to which the redistribution of the egg components such as cleavage nuclei and yolk platelets are different.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.331-335
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• 2006

We investigated the distribution of three anuran species, Three-striped pond frogs (Rana nigromaculata), Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), and Narrow-mouthed toads (Kaloula borealis), in an administrative district, Haenam Gun, Junnam Province, Korea using volunteer call surveys. Twenty-eight volunteer call surveyors were assigned to each $2{\times}2km^2$ survey plot. Call surveys on whether the species are present or not were conducted for 5 minutes between 30 minutes after sunset and the midnight on rice fields and ponds from 10 April to 28 August in 2005. Depending on species, call surveys were carried out at seven to 28 plots with average 8.4 to 10.7 visits per the plot. We calculated the detection probabilities and occupancy rates of the three species using four models with three covariates: temperature, humidity, and the amount of water at the habitat. The model average detection probabilities of three anuran species of R. nigromaculata, R. catesbeiana, and K. borealis were 0.53, 0.74, and 0.41 respectively, and the site occupancy rates of them were 0.93, 0.94, and 0.86 respectively. Our results indicate that R. nigromaculata, R. catesbeiana, and K. borealis are common in Haenam Gun.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.260-267
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• 2012

Calling behavior is often used to infer breeding patterns in anurans. We studied the seasonal and diel calling activities of anuran species in a wetland in central Korea to determine the calling season and to evaluate the effects of abiotic factors on male calling. Acoustic monitoring was used in which frog calls were recorded for a full day, once a week, throughout an entire year. Using acoustic monitoring, we identified three frog species in the study site. Males of Rana dybowskii called in late winter and early spring; we thus classified this species as a winter/spring caller. The results of binary logistic regression showed that temperature, relative humidity, and 1-day lag rainfall were significant factors for male calling in R. dybowskii. Temperature and relative humidity were important factors for the calling activity of R. nigromaculata, whereas 24-h rainfall and 1-day lag rainfall were not significant. Thus, we determined R. nigromaculata to be a summer caller independent of weather. In Hyla japonica, relative humidity, 24-h rainfall, and 1- day lag rainfall were significant for male calling, suggesting that this species is a summer caller dependent on local rain.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 1974

This study was performed in order to know the histochemical changes of mucosubstances in mucous glands under normal and dry conditions. The frogs, Rana nigromaculata Hallowell, were collected near Seoul area in mid-August. The experimental group was retained under dry conditions for 12, 24, 30 and 36 hrs to make a comparison to normal group. The results obtained were as follows: 1. Mucosubstances in mucous glands of the frog skin contain neutral mucin and sulfated and non-sulfated mucins. Mucosubstances in the cells of the gland neck are neutral mucin, while the gland body is composed of neutral, sulfated and non-sulfated mucins. 2. Mucosubstances in mucous gland of the frog skin decreased distinctively under dry conditions, as is evident from the hitochemical properties, te neutral mucins were influenced more clearly than acid mucins. 3. Histochemical compositions of the mucosubstances in the cell of the mucous gland (the gland neck and the gland body) were not changed. 4. The phenomena were considered as a general adaptation syndrome to keep homeostasis.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2012

Toxicity of $Ni^{2+}$ and Tebuconazole were investigated via FETAX (Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus) protocol using domestic frog embryos. Embryos of Black-spotted pond frog, Rana nigromaculata, were incubated and toxic effects of $Ni^{2+}$ and Tebuconazole were investigated by probit analysis. As a result, mortality and malformation rates were increased and larval body length was decreased in a dose dependant manner of $Ni^{2+}$ and Tebuconazole. The half maximal effective concentration ($EC_{50}$) of $Ni^{2+}$ and Tebuconazole were 0.07, $12.7mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively and the half maximal lethal concentration ($LC_{50}$) of $Ni^{2+}$ and Tebuconazole were 4.2, 39.1, respectively. The teratogenic index (TI) were 61.4 in $Ni^{2+}$ and 3.1 in Tebuconazole, respectively. These results reveals that $Ni^{2+}$ and Tebuconazole suppress the development of Black-spotted pond frog embryos at the low concentration as showing teratogenic effects in other assay system. Therefore, teratogen assay system using the Rana nigromaculata embryos could be useful as a tool to evaluate the toxicity of the pollutants in environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.706-714
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• 2017

An investigation of the effects of Pb for domestic anuran embryos were evaluated with the Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay; Xenopus (FETAX). Depending on the species, the difference between the embryo size and the embryonic development time was determined. As a result, mortality and malformation rates were increased, malformation patterns were changed and larval body length were decreased in a dose dependent manner of the Pb. The half maximal lethal concentration ($LC_{50}$) of the Bufo gargarizans, Hyla japonica, Rana nigromaculata and Bombina orientalis were 0.58, 0.49, 0.52, $0.54mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The half maximal effective concentration ($EC_{50}$) of the Bufo gargarizans, Hyla japonica, Rana nigromaculata and Bombina orientalis were 0.35, 0.74, 0.30, $0.29mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The teratogenic index (TI) were 1.66 in the Bufo gargarizans, 1.81 in the Hyla japonica, 1.73 in the Rana nigromaculata and 1.86 in the Bombina orientalis, respectively. Therefore, the Pb seems likely to have a teratogenic effect in all four species' embryonic development. The Bombina orientalis was the most sensitive to the Pb. This means that the difference between the different species, even if they have all been exposed to the same concentration of pollutants depending on the species. The result above show that the Pb acts as a teratogenic agent in the development of the four domestic frog species.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.117-121
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• 2000

Genetic relationships among six species of the genus Rana from Korea were investigated by complete nucleotide sequence analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1143 bp). Based on Kimura-2-parameter distance, the interspecific sequence differences of cytochrome b gene within the genus Rana were ranged from 7.83% to 25.00%. The genetic distances were 7.83% between R. nigromaculata and R. plancyi, 8.47% between two types of R. rugosa (type A and B), 10.42% between the brown frogs (R. amurensis and R. dybowskii), 16.11% between R. dybowskii types 1 and 2 and 12.36% between pond frogs (R. nigromaculata and R. plancyi) and R. catesbeiana. In the neighbor-joining and parsimony trees, R. catesbeiana was more closely related to pond frogs than brown frogs. R. dybowskii types 1 and 2 were considered to be at a distinct and specific level of differentiation (16.11%), while two types of R. rugosa were suspected to be at a subspecific level (8.47%).

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.193-201
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• 1973

A cellulose acetate electrophoretic survey of Korean Anura has revealed the presence of diverse lactate and malate dehydrogenase isozymes. The LDH and MDH isozymes in the tissues of the brain, heart, stomach, skeletal muscle and liver of the six species of Anura examined show the species specific patterns which differ from those of mammals and birds. Two isozymic forms of LDH and MDH exist in both Rana nigromaculata and Rana nigromaculata coreana, respectively, with almost the same pattern. LDH of Bombina orientalis has five isozymic forms, and that of Rana temporaria ornativentris contains four isozymes. Bufo sp. has 3 to 5, and Rana rugosa has 3 to 4 isozymic bands according to the tissues. MDH's of all animals have two isozymic forms with different spacing on the zymograms.