• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2005

Impacts of Typhoon Maemi on a soft-coral community located on subtidal cliff at Munseom, Jeju were investigated in this study using underwater photography. Typhoon Maemi hit Jeju Island in late September 2003 and its impact was strong enough to destruct most shallow water sessile benthos including soft corals. To estimate numbers and size of soft-coral colonies, a line transect was installed on the cliff at depth from 3 to 9 m and photographs were taken serially by every 1m. From each $1{\times}1m$ underwater photograph, species and size of soft-coral colony was determined. Number of soft-coral colony and its Percent coverage (PC) in each $1m^2$ quadrat was calculated. Soft corals Scleronephthya gracillium, Dendronephthya gigantea, D. spinulosa and D. castanea were identified from the photographs. Dendronephthya sp. was mainly distributed at 3-6m while S. gracillimum was mostly occurred at $6{sim}9m$. A survey conducted before the typhoon showed that number of the soft-coral colonies at $3{\sim}4m,\;4{\sim}5m,\;5{\sim}6m,\;6{\sim}7m,\;7{\sim}8m\;and\;8{\sim}9m$ was 17, 24, 20, 23, 18 and 30 $colonies/m^2$ or 21, 48, 36, 28, 24 and 43%, respectively. After the typhoon, number of soft-coral colonies in the transect increased, 31, 35, 21, 10, 21 and 50 $colonies/m^2$ while PC was remarkably decreased as 21, 23, 21, 5, 9 and 13%, respectively. Our data suggested that the impact was limited in larger colonies; larger soft coral colonies were selectively destroyed and removed while the small colonies underneath the larger colonies remained undestroyed.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.268-281
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• 2023

Coral reef fisheries are prominent for the archipelagic countries' food sufficiency and security. Studies showed that fish abundance and biomass are affected by biophysical variables. The present study determines which biophysical variables are important predictors of fish diversity, abundance, and biomass. The study used available monitoring data from the Indonesian Research Center for Oceanography, the National Board for Research and Innovation. Data were collected from 245 transects in 19 locations distributed across the Indonesian Archipelago, including the eastern Indian Ocean, Sunda Shelf (Karimata Sea), Wallacea (Flores and Banda Seas), and the western Pacific Ocean. Principal component analysis and multiple regression model were administered to 13 biophysical metrics against 11 variables of coral reef fishes, i.e., diversity, abundance, and biomass of coral reef fishes at three trophic levels. The results showed for the first time that the covers of other fauna, coral rubbles, and soft corals were the three most important predictor variables for nearly all coral reef fish variables. Other fauna cover was the important predictor for all 11 coral reef fish variables. Coral rubble cover was the predictor for ten variables, but carnivore fish abundance. Soft coral cover was a good predictor for corallivore, carnivore, and targeted fishes. Despite important predictors for corallivore and carnivore fish variables, hard coral cover was not the critical predictor for herbivore fish variables. The other important predictor variables with a consistent pattern were dead coral covered with algae and rocks. Dead coral covered with algae was an important predictor for herbivore fishes, while the rock was good for only carnivore fishes.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.170-175
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• 2006

The extensive isolation of genes responsive to stressful conditions from a soft coral Scleronephthya gracillimum was described. Soft coral colonies were exposed to thermal and chemical stressors to induce the expression of stress related genes. Differentially expressed genes by natural or anthropogenic stressors were identified by construction of standard and stress exposed-paired subtractive cDNA library. Thirty-two and thirty-seven kinds of candidate genes were identified from thermal or benzo[a]pyrene stress exposed group, respectively, which are associated with cell cycle, cell signaling, transcription, translation, protein metabolism, and other cellular functions. The expected function of each gene was described. The isolated and identified differentially expressed genes have a great potential to identify environmental stressors in global environmental changes and could act as molecular biomarkers for biological responses against environmental changes. Finally, it may open a new paradigm on soft coral health assessment.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.205-209
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• 2005

A rapid, simple and efficient method to extract RNA from the adult polyps of a soft coral, marine cnidarian, Scleronephthya gracillimum $(K\ddot{u}kenthal)$; was developed in this study. The highest yield and purity of RNA was obtained with the lysis solution containing 35 mM EDTA, 0.7 M LiCl, 7.0% SDS, and 200 mM Tris-Cl (pH 9.0). Approximately $40{\mu}g$ of total RNA was extracted from 200 mg of liquid nitrogen-pulverized polyp tissue. The ratio of absorbance at 260 nm and 280 nm ranged from 1.8 to 2.0. The results of the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) with ${\beta}-actin$ gene specific primers and Northern blot analysis using the same gene probe revealed that the RNA extracted by our method had high quality, and was sufficient for subsequent molecular biological analyses. This method was effective for RNA extraction from other soft coral species which belong to the genus Dendronephthya.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.235-247
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• 2022

A marine protected area (MPA) is a spatially designated section of the ocean where the biodiversity is high. Munseom MPA has a unique underwater landscape including soft coral, subtropical fish, and benthos, attracting many scuba divers. This paper intends to evaluate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the scuba diving management policy in the Munseom MPA. As a stated preference valuation method, a choice experiment was applied to assess divers' preferences with economic values for the policy. The attributes used in the study included zoning (temporal closure), conservation education, daily permit, soft coral area, and diving fee. We collected 333 questionnaires through online and field surveys and used 296 after excluding incomplete responses for the final data analysis. Study results show that a six-month closure, a decrease in soft coral habitat, and the diving fee were statistically significant. A positive coefficient with regard to the six-month closure variable indicates that divers preferred the policy, and the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) was estimated to be KRW 8,637 per person per dive. The aggregate WTP of KRW 233 million was obtained by multiplying the MWTP by the number of visiting divers per year. When comparing the levels of recreation specialization, more skilled divers preferred the management option. The results of this study will help predict the priority of management measures and the levels of acceptability among divers when diving management is implemented in Korea in the future. This study suggests that marine environmental policies need to consider divers as one of the important stakeholders for marine conservation.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.215-225
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• 2007

The azooxanthellate soft coral Dendronephthya suensoni (Holem, 1895) is distributed mainly around Jejudo Island, Korea. This species was determined as gonochoric with a sex ratio of 2:1 (female:male). Both female and male colonies have one gametogenic cycle a year. The annual reproductive cycle of D. suensoni is dependent on the seawater temperature. In particular, reproduction of the male colony showed a higher positive correlation between seawater temperature and the mean diameter of the spermaries. Gametogenesis in females and males took 6 months and 12 months, respectively. The mean diameter of a mature oocyte was $249.29\;{\pm}\;36.24\;{\mu}m$, with a maximum size of $354.45\;{\mu}m$. Spawning could have occurred in the fall after the seawater temperature began to decrease.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.4 s.65
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• pp.28-34
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• 2005

In the study application of volcanic scoria concrete to artificial reefs is investigated. Volcanic scoria is a natural volcanic product that shows light weight, mil/i-porous, and far-infrared irradiation characteristics. The properties of volcanic scoria concrete using Jeju scoria aggregate are evaluated by conducting a comprehensive series of tests on strength and void ratio. It is concluded that the volcanic scoria concrete has the sufficient strength of 4MPa-13MPa and adequate void ratio of $12\%-35\%$ to be accepted as artificial reef concrete. The field experiments are performed through observation by scuba diver's at the Seogwipo coast. Porous specimen and plane concrete specimen are prepared for comparison purposes. Seasonal changes of soft coral on the two series of test specimens were have been observed from Apr. 9, 2004 to Mar. 18, 2005. The soft coral is well grown on the porous specimen however there are no significant changes on the conventional plain concrete specimen. Thus it is concluded that the volcanic scoria concrete is highly suitable as artificial reef concrete.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 2005

We cloned the complete cDNA of the ${\beta}-bubulin$ from the soft coral, Scleronephthya gracillimum $(K\ddot{u}kenthal)$ (Alcyonacea, Octocorallia, Anthozoa, Cnidaria), via the random sequencing of a cDNA library and the 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA end (RACE) technique. The full-length cDNA of the S. gracillimum ${\beta}-tubulin$ comprised 1541 bp, not including the poly $A^+$ stretch, also contained a complete open reading frame, which codes for a total of 445 amino acids. The amino acid residues 16402 appeared to be in a state of conservation in a variety of animals. Northern blot analysis clearly demonstrated that the sequence we have obtained is, indeed, the full-length cDNA of the ${\beta}-bubulin$ gene in S. gracillimum.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.32.1-32.7
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• 2017

Recent in vitro studies have demonstrated that extract of soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea (SCDE) had strong anti-inflammatory activities. However, the direct effects of SCDE on anti-inflammatory activities in vivo model remained to be determined. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of SCDE using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated zebrafish model. We also investigated whether SCDE has toxic effects in zebrafish model. The survival, heart beat rate, and developmental abnormalities were no significant change in the zebrafish embryos exposed to at a concentration below $100{\mu}g/ml$ of SCDE. However, lethal toxicity was caused after exposure to 200 and $400{\mu}g/ml$ of SCDE. Treating zebrafish model with LPS treatment significantly increased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) generation. However, SCDE inhibited this LPS-stimulated ROS and NO generation in a dose-dependent manner. These results show that SCDE alleviated inflammation by inhibiting the ROS and NO generation induced by LPS treatment. In addition, SCDE has a protective effect against the cell damage induced by LPS exposure in zebrafish embryos. This outcome could explain the profound anti-inflammatory effect of SCDE both in vitro as well as in vivo, suggesting that the SCDE might be a strong anti-inflammatory agent.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.38 no.10
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• pp.749-752
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• 1994

Two furanosesquiterpenes, (5'E)-5-(2',6'-dimethylocta-5',7'-dienyl) furan-3-carboxylic acid (1) and (1'E,5'E)-5-(2',6'-dimethylocta-l',5',7'-trienyl) furan-3-carboxylic acid (2), were isolated from soft coral Sinularia lochmodes collected from Palikir pass at Pohnpei Micronesia, June, 1990 in Hawaii. Their structures were elucidated by $^1H$, $^{13}C$ NMR, Homo-COSY, $^1H$-$^{13}C$ (1 bond) Heteronuclear Multiple Quantum Coherence Spectroscopy (HMQC), $^1H$-$^{13}C$ (2 and 3 bond) Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Coherence Spectroscopy (HMBC), Electron Impact Mass Spectroscopy (EI-ms), and Infrared Spectroscopy (IR).