• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.233-250
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• 2019

A re-assessment of the age structure of the population of the Antarctic icefish Pseudochaenichthys georgianus based on body length data covering the years 1976-2009 and including larvae and postlarvae collected in 1989 and 1990 allowed us to define age groups 0, I, and II as containing fish with respective body lengths of 6-9 cm, 15-27 cm and 27-39 cm. Age at maturity (first spawning) was found to occur in age group III at body lengths that have been falling from 50.1 cm in 1979 to 45.4 cm in 1992. Considering postlarvae together with adult fish, the v. Bertalanffy growth curve parameters were determined as L_∞ = 60.62 cm, k = 0.4, t₀ = 0.25. Although the reasons for a maturity at shorter body lengths is not fully understood a host of environmental factors like increasing water temperatures and possibly changes in currents, interspecific competition, food availability, etc. are likely to be involved. Global warming (and not primarily overfishing) is likely to have been responsible for the disappearance of larger fish in the surface waters of South Georgia since 1977, for virtually all commercial fishing stopped in the early 1990s. On the other hand, the appearance of numerous younger spawning individuals suggests that larvae do survive in the colder deeper water below 200 m. The biomass of Ps. georgianus oscillates with a 4-year periodicity in contrast to that of the coexisting icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus: the former with a lower biomass in warm years and a higher one in cold years. The biomass of the third species of icefish in the region, i.e. Champsocephalus gunnari, also oscillates, but with a longer periodicity than that involved in the biology of the other two and its biomass increases in contrast to the other two species. The result is that the biomass all three species considered together is rather stable.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2008

The metacercariae of Centrocestus formosanus, a minute intestinal trematode of mammals and birds, were detected in the freshwater fish, Puntius brevis, from Vientiane Municipality, Lao PDR. The metacercariae were experimentally fed to mice, and adult flukes were recovered in their small intestines 7 days later. The adult flukes were morphologically characterized by having 32 (rarely 34) circumoral spines arranged in 2 alternative rows, a large bipartite seminal vesicle, an oval-shaped ovary, and an X-shaped excretory bladder. Based on these characters, the adults were identified as Centrocestus formosanus (Nishigori, 1924). The taxonomic significance of C. formosanus, in relation to a closely related species, C. caninus (Leiper, 1913), is briefly discussed. It has been first verified by adult worm recovery that C. formosanus is prevalent in Vientiane areas of Lao PDR, taking the freshwater fish, P. brevis, as a second intermediate host.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2012

Prevalence of viral nervous necrosis (VNN) in sevenband grouper Epinephelus septemfasciatus farms was investigated during the period of 2006-2008. The outbreak of the VNN was observed from August (water temperature: $24-26^{\circ}C$) to September or October ($20-25^{\circ}C$). The viral infection resulted in acute or chronic mortality of the host, where the mortality rate of juvenile fish was higher than that of the adult fish. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial RNA2 coat protein gene nucleotide sequences revealed that all the isolates from sevenband grouper were classified into the genotype redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV). In conclusion, VNN of juvenile and adult sevenband groupers during the summer season (July to October, water temperature: about $24^{\circ}C$) was caused by virus belonging to the genotype RGNNV.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2016

Lectins play significant roles in the innate immune responses through binding to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on the surfaces of microorganisms. In the present study, tissue distribution and expression analysis of olive flounder lectins were performed after viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) challenge. Fish egg lectin and serum lectin were found to be predominantly expressed in the gills and liver, these results indicate that the transcript expression of olive flounder lectins is concentrated in immune-related tissues. Following a VHSV challenge, an overall increase in the transcript levels of the genes was observed and the expression patterns were distinctly divided into early and later responses during VHSV infection. In conclusion, olive flounder lectins are specifically expressed in immune-related organs and induced in both the immediate and long-lasting immune responses to VHSV in the olive flounder. These results indicate that lectins may be play important roles in the host defense mechanism and involved in the innate and adaptive immune response to viruses in fish.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2008

Marine birnavirus(MABV) are well known fish pathogens in Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, and China. Prevalence of viral disease, geological distribution and host or reservoir of viruses were investigated from wild marine fishes in southern coast of Korea in 2003 and 2005. RT-PCR results showed that MABV were detected in 17 fishes(10.6%) from 160 fishes. Comparative analysis of the nucleotide sequences and the deduced amino acids of MABV genome from wild fishes were similar to reference strains of MABV and distinguished with IPNV strains.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.116-186
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• 1983

An epidemiological study on Clonorchis sinensis infection along the Nam-river (total length ; 186km) flowing in Gyeongsang-nam-do, southern part of Korea, was carried out. Formalin-ether concentration technique and Stoll's egg counting method were employed to figure out the prevalence of C. sinensis infection. For the detection of cercariae from Parafossarulus sp., the snail host of C. sinensis, each snail was placed in aerated tap water, and examined for expelled cercariae. For observing the metacercariae the fresh water fish favorably eaten in raw conditions wore prepared by means of pressing the muscles between two slide glasses and/or by digesting them with artificial gastric juice. The fresh water fish were fed to the rabbits to get the worms and to identify the morphology of adult C. sinensis. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Overall Prevalence of C. sinensis infection was 38.75 from 5,291 examinees; 44.15 (1,408 out of 3,196) in male and 30.4% (637 out of 2,095) in female. 2. The prevalence rates were 42.0% at the upper stream, 41.2% around the vicinity of Jinyanglake, 34.2% at Jinju city, 34.2% at middle stream and 40.3% at down stream regions, respectively. 3. By age, the highest positive rate (53.4∼54.3%) was observed in 30 to 59 years of age. In this age group, the rate in males was 59.7∼62.2%, and in females 42.2∼44.4%, In the age group of less than 19 years it was 7.5∼20.9%. 4. By social strata, the positive rate was 16.5% in the primary school children, 22.6% in school students, 46.2% in teachers and local officers and 49.6% in the general inhabitants. 5. The quantitative examinations with the stool collected from clonorchiasis cases revealed that the light infection (less than 4,000/EPG) was 53.6%, moderate infection (4,001∼10,000 /EPG) 30.3% and heavy infection (more than 10,001/EPG) 16.1%, respectively. More than half of total cases examined were light infection, and 73.2% of female examinees were lightly infected with this cuke. 6. The average value of EPG was 4,963 (male, 6,057; female, 2,557 and the highest value was obtained from the age group of 30 to 59 years (5,240∼6,454). 7. The prevalence of Metagonimus yokogawai infection in humans was 5.5%, and 89.8% of metagonimiasis cases wore double-infected arith C. sinensis. The highest prevalence rate was observed in Jinju city (11.2%). 8. Total of 5,005 Parafossarulus sp., the snail intermediate host of C. sinensis, were examined for the detection of cercariae. The cercarial expulsion rate was 0.34%, and the snails collected in Jin-yang-lake side and in the down stream expelled mainly the cercariae of C, sinensis. 9. About 788 cercariaejday (range: 127∼1,503) were expelled daily from a snail naturally infected with C. sinensis. The snails which released more than 1,000 cercariae/day were 30.8% out of total collected. A snail uniquely released 5,840 cercariae/day in this study. 10. The other trematode cercariae besides C. sinensis were also detected, and the rates out of total snails were the cercariae of Losogenes liberum 6.71%, Cyathocotyle orientalis 0.26%, Notocotylus attenuatus 2.52% and Mucobucaris 0.54%, 11. Ten out of 18 species of fresh water fish caught along the river harbored the metacercariae of C, sinensis. The highest rate of metacercarial infection in fish was detected in Pseudorasbora larva (85.9%). The fish mainly eaten by the inhabitants along the Nam-river, and the metacercarial infection rates were: Zacco platypus 8.0%, Hemibarbus sp. 18.2∼26.7%, Gnathepcgcn sp. 37.5%, Ischikauia steenackeri 42.9% and Pseudogobio esocinus 16.7%. 12. Out of 36 P. larva, the number of metacercariae were about 109 (ranEe; 18∼446) per fish and 27 per gram of flesh. The fish caught in spring harbored the highest number of metacercariae. As indicated above, the prevalence of C. sinensis infection in the inhabitants residing around the Nam-river was relatively high. The farther toward the upper stream areas, the higher was the positive rate of C. sinensis infection, and most of clonorchiasis cases were lightly infected. The snail hosts of C. sinensis distributed all around the Nam-river. Several species of freshwater fish were infected with the metacercariae of C. sinensis and the infection rates were relatively high. To prevent C. sinensis infection in the endemic areas, the effective health education system is suggested as a control measure, although mass treatment is also expected to be useful, using chemotherapeutic agents such as "praziquantel", a recently developed anthelminthic for C. sinensis inftraction.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 1985

The seasonal variations of the rate and intensity of metacercarial infection of C. sinensis in P. parva were observed. The fish were collected at Sun-Am River which located in Kim-Hae City, Kyong-Sang Nam Do (=Province), Korea, from March 1983, to February 1984 every month. A total of 788 fish was examined. The number of metacercariae in each fish was individually counted after the individual digestion by artificial gastric juice. The results were as follows: 1. During one year, 513 (65.1%) out of 788 fish were infected with metacercariae. In May, June, July and September, the infection rates ranged from 82.0% to 98.6% whereas the rates was relatively low in March, April, November and February ranging from 11.4% to 64.7%. 2. The intensity of infection was similar with those of infection rates. The mean intensity per infected fish was 103.0 and standard deviation was 118.9 throughout one year. The highest mean intensity was in June (294.8) and the lowest in November (11.1). 3. The observed frequency of fish with certain intensities of metacercariae were fitted to theoretical equations derived from negative binomial distribution in March, April, November and February (p>0.05). Meanwhile, the equation of lognormal distribution were fitted with the observed frequencies in May, June, July and September (p>0.05, p>O. 75). The variance/mean ratio varied by month. The value was the highest in July (814.3) and the lowest in November (158.8). Unlike our hypothesis, the metacercarial density of Clonorchis sinensis in its the most favorable fish host, Pseudorasbora parva showed considerable seasonal variations in the hyperendemic area. The possible factors were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.317-327
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• 1987

As a series of studies on the suitability as a second intermediate host of Clonorchis sinensis, artificial infection experiments were applied to Tilapia mossambica. And then, in order to elucidate the defence mechanism of the fish to Clonorchis, clonorchicidal substance in the epidermal mucus of the fish was isolated by silica gel column and thin layer chromatography and analyzed for its chemical structure by UV, IR and NMR-spectroscopy. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. The cercariae which attempted to contact with the fish in the water were observed under stereomicroscope. After contact, the cercariae began to separate their tail from the body after several minutes and then the number increased to $80\%$ more than 10 minutes after the encounter. But very few cercariae could actually invade the epidermis of the fish. 2. The fish were reared with Parafossarulus manchouricus which were shedding numerous cercariae of Clonorchis in the aquarium for 24 hours. Only a few cercariae could invade the epidermis but most of the invaded cercariae died out before forming their cysts. Very few number of the remaining encysted cercariae were also found to be in a state of suspended animation within 42 hours. 3. In the cases of the control fish, Pseudorasbora parva, numerous cercariae of Clonorchis were found to invade the fish through the epidermis under stereomicroscope. Then many metacercariae of Clonorchis were also found in the fish while they were kept in the aquarium. 4. A sample of the epidermal mucus of Tilapia mossambica was extracted with ethly ether 6 times repeatedly. In silica gel column chromatography, using petroleum ether: chloroform/30:70(v/v) as a first solvent and MeOH as a second solvent, the extract was fractionated into the yellow and brownish red solutions in the first solvent and the clonorchicidal brownish yellow solution in the second sovent. 5. The clonorchicidal brownish yellow solution was added to petroleum ether, and the mixture was stored for 5 days at $5^{\circ}C$ and was, then, separated into supernatant fraction and precipitate. Ten mg/ml of the supernatant fraction killed, in vitro, the excysted metacercariae in 45 minutes but the precipitate in 600 minutes. 6. In silica gel column chromatography, using acetone: benzene/10:90(v/v) as a solvent, the more clonorchicidal supernatant fraction was fractionated into the first fraction with Rf. 0.2966 and the second fraction with Rf. 0.072. In vitro, 10mg/ml of the first fraction killed the excysted metacercariae in 28 minutes, the second fraction in 80 minutes and the first fraction was, therefore, determined to be a final clonorchicidal substance. 7. By this purification procedures, the most clonorchicidal substance from the epidermal mucus of Tilapia mossambica was purified 71-folds with $0.2075\%$ yield. Infra red, nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet spectrometric analysis of the purified substance revealed that the substance is linoleic acid. According to the results of the present studies it seemed that this species can not serve as a proper intermediate host of Clonorchis sinensis, and that defence mechanism to the fluke seems to be correlated with linoleic acid in the epidermal mucus of this species.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.191-202
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• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of major prebiotics and the related studies, and to provide basic data for future research. Prebiotics are defined as 'nondigestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improve host health'. Well-known prebiotics are inulin, oligofructose, and galacto-oligosaccharide. Prebiotics assist in the health activity of lactic acid bacteria by acting as a substrate for lactic acid bacteria, with their unique physical and chemical properties. Bifidobacteria are known to be beneficial bacteria that prevent intestinal inflammation, maintain intestinal microflora balance, inhibit carcinogenesis, reduce cholesterol, and enhance immunity. However, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacillus, and Weissella are also found in animal-based fermented foods such as milk, cheese, yogurt, and salted fish. Prebiotics can act as a substrate for lactic acid bacteria, helping the activity of lactic acid bacteria and improving health. Therefore, the authors suggest that investigation into the category and effectiveness of prebiotics should be extended in the future through research.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.112-120
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• 2007

This paper reviews the use of parasites as 'biological tags' for studying stock analysis of salmonid fishes. Numerous definitions of stock concepts exist, but most of them essentially define a group of fish as having similar biological characteristics and being self-reproducing as stocks. It is important to manage fish stocks for human consumption and sustainable production and especially for salmonid fishes. Because these fry are considered as each country's property, it is necessary to identify and discriminate each fish stock in the open sea. Methods of separating fish stocks are very diverse. Artificial tags, parasites, otoliths scales and genetic characters have been used for stock analysis and each method has advantages and disadvantages. Of these parasites can be good biological tags because they are applied by nature at no cost. Parasites can be infected with susceptible host fishes when they enter into certain areas. Then if they move to the outside and are caught researchers can infer that the fish had been in the endemic area for a period of time during their life. Hence the host fish can be considered as naturally 'tagged' by parasites. However, if they do not pass the parasites-endemic. area, they will harbour no parasites. Therefore, researchers can discriminate each fish stocks and trace their migration routes with these biological tags. In this paper, several examples on the use of parasites as biological tags for studying salmonids, as well as other species, are listed. The advantages and limitations of parasites as biological tags are also discussed. Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), the main salmonid species migrating to Korea, is distributed all around the North Pacific. Korean chum salmon are generally thought to move to the Sea of Okhotsk, the western North Pacific and the Bering Sea. However, there is no clear information on the distribution and migration pathways of Korean chum salmon, and no markers exist for separating them from others yet. Recent Korean chum salmon stock analysis including parasites information are mentioned.