• ALGAE
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.129-147
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• 2024

The species complex Mesodinium rubrum / major, common red tide-forming ciliates, has been intensively studied with regards to its ecological roles in global marine ecosystems and the evolutionary aspects of its "stolen" organelles (kleptoplasty and karyoklepty). Nonetheless, the taxonomy of the species within the complex remains unclear. A new marine Mesodinium species isolated from Gomso Bay, Korea, was cultivated under mixotrophic conditions by providing Teleaulax amphioxeia, a red cryptomonad, as prey. Cells of the new isolate consisted of two portions separated by two types of polykinetids. The number of polykinetid associated with the equatorial ciliary belt was approximately 38, and each consisting of two rows of up to 18 alternating kinetosomes each. There was an equal number of cirral polykinetids, each consisting of 16 kinetosomes organized into four longitudinal rows having five, five, four, and two kinetosomes, respectively (in anti-clockwise direction). The two kinds of kinetids and their associated microtubules and fibers were structurally similar to those of M. rubrum from Denmark. However, the Korean Mesodinium species was characterized by its broad posterior portion, 20-22 tentacles, and a cytopharyngeal annulus. Molecular phylogeny based on internal transcribed spacer sequences placed the Korean isolate in clade B of the M. rubrum / major species complex, rather than in clade F representing the neotype of M. rubrum. Based on morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular data, we propose the Korean strain as a new marine Mesodinium species, M. annulatum.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.160-163
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• 2003

Mortality of several species of fish and shellfish exposed to Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) caused by Cochlodinium polykrikoides, Heterosigam akashiwo, Alexandrium tamarense, Eutreptiella gymnastica, Heterocapsa triquetra and Prorocentrum micans was studied. When fish were exposed to a cell density of 8,000 cells $mL^{-1}$ in C. polykrikoides, $35\%$ of flatfish and darkbanded rockfish died within 48 hrs. However, jacopever rockfish had mortality of higher than $85\%$. Rock bream, filefish and red sea bream showed $100\%$ mortality within 10 hrs with an exposure cell density of 8,000 cells $mL^{-1}$. The rest of HABs except for C. polykrikoides showed that there was no fish and shellfish death throughout the 48 hrs even in the maximum cell density of 100,000 cells $mL^{-1}$ These results imply that C. polykrikoides can have a serious impact on fish mortality and it is regarded as an ichthyotoxic dinoflagellate. The fish death may be attributed to anoxia caused by a combination of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and polysaccharide from C. polykrikoides during blooms.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.385-386
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• 2006

In 2005, harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides was first occurred on July 18 and disappeared on September 12 in the Yeosu waters of the South Sea of Korea. During C. polykrikoides blooms, the species of Protoperidinium was isolated from Jabong Island in Yeosu in the middle of August, 2005. The surface water temperature at the sampling site was $25^{\circ}C$, and salinity was 33.1 psu. The specimen was somewhat large in size and was longer than its width. The shape was close to being ovoid, with an apical horn. This study discovered cells with colorless and transparent ingested chain-forming C. polykrikoides. However, this species was not abundant, implying low grazing impact on C. polykkoides.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.129-139
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• 2002

We investigated the outbreak of red tides dominated by harmful dinoflagellates from August to November 1999 in the coastal waters off the southern Saemankeum areas where a huge red tide dominated by Cochlodinium polykrikoides had been first observed in 1998. We took water samples from 2~5 depths of 4 stations (with 3-4 additional stations during red tides) in this study period and then measured the abundance of phytoplankton, water temperature, salinity, and the concentrations of nutrients. In the study period harmful dinoflagellates Alexandrium tamarense, C. polykrikoides, Gymnodnium catenatum, Gyrodinium aureolum, Gymnodnium impudicum were present, and of these G. aureolum and C. polykrikoides formed red tide patches on September 16 and October 18, respectively. The date of the outbreak of red tide dominated by C. polykrikoides in the study area was approximately 50 days later than that off the Kohung areas in 1997 and the surface water temperature when the red tides outbroke in the former area was 6$^{\circ}C$ lower than that fur the latter area. The maximum abundance of C. polykrikoides on September 16, October 7 and 18 were 5, 14, and 463 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively. The growth rate of C. polykrikoides, isolated from the study area, was 0.3~0.4 d$^{-1}$ at 20~$25^{\circ}C$, which enable this species to reach the maximum concentration without being transported from the adjacent waters containing already made red tide patches. The outbreaks of red tides dominated by C. polykrikoides in the study area and off Kohung have occurred when and/or where the concentrations of diatoms were low. This evidence suggests that the outbreak of red tides dominated by C. polykrikoides is adversely affected by the high diatom concentrations or the conditions favorable for the growth of diatoms.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.363-370
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• 1999

When the first red tide alert by Cochlodinium polykrikoides was alarmed around the Oenarodo coast on Aug. 27, 1997, there co-occurred two chain-forming naked dinoflagellates which were different sized but looked fairly similar. The analyses of 24S rRNA sequences of these species showed that their gene sequences had only 74.9% identity. This low value implies that they are quite different species. After isolation and cultivation of each species, the morphological characteristics were observed. This revealed that the larger species ranging from 20 to 35 ${\mu}m$ was the well known, Cochlodinium polykrikoides and the smaller one ranging from 12 to 25 ${\mu}m$ was Gyrodinium impudicum which had not been reported in Korea. As their 24S rRNA sequences had not been analysed yet, we deposited the sequences in Genbank. At that time of the investigation. the red tide was caused by G. impudicum of which maximum cell counts reached up to 30,000 cells $ml^{-1}$. In this study we describe the morphological characteristics and the behavioral patterns of each species which can be easily observed with light microscope or stereomicroscope. In addition, their morphology transformed by the fixation with Lugol's solution are also characterized. which can help to discriminate each one in the fixed sample.

• ALGAE
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.237-241
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• 2011

The toxic dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum has been implicated in numerous fish kill events around the world. Since this species commonly co-occurs with other morphologically similar dinoflagellates, field monitoring of this species in natural waters via light microscopy only has been problematic. In this study, we investigated temporal changes in K. veneficum's abundance in the waters of Obido, Tongyeong, using a species-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The field survey, from April to December 2010, revealed K. veneficum occurred at low densities (12 to 425 cells $L^{-1}$) during this time and that cell numbers peaked in June (early summer in Korea), indicating this species generally occurs in the warmer season (mostly at $16.9-22.3^{\circ}C$ and 33.4-34.5‰) in the Obido area.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2002

We investigated the temporal variations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellates (hereafter HTD), tintinnid ciliates(TC), and naked ciliates(NC) from August to November 1999 in the coastal waters off the southern Saemankeum areas where a huge red tide dominated by Cochlodinium polykrikoides/Gymnodinium impudicum was first observed in 1998. We took water samples from 2-5 depths of 4 stations in each of the 5 cruises and then measured the species composition and abundances of HTD, TC, and NC The maximum species numbers and densities of HTD, TC, and NC(11, 12, and 10 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were observed when the density of diatoms was highest (August 10), while the lowest values (1.0, 0.5, and 2.4 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were found when the red tide dominated by C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum took placed (October 18). On August 10 and November 11 when diatoms dominated the abundance of phytoplankton, the correlation coefficients between TC, NC and diatoms were relatively high. However, On September 16 and October 18 when autotrophic+mixotrophic dinoflagellates(ATD+MTD) were abundant, the correlation coefficients between HTD and ATD+MTD were relatively high. The large HTD Noctiluca scintillans was the most dominant heterotrophic protists during the C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum red tide on October 18. N. scintillans has been known to feed on the prey cells when the swimming speeds of C. polykrikikoides/G. impudicum markedly reduced at the decline stage of the red tide. Therefore, N. scintillans could be effective grazers on C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum. The maximum densities of HTD, TC, and NC in the study area were fairly lower than those obtained in the waters off Kohung-Yeosu areas in the summer-fall, 1997. The results of the present study provide the basis of understanding predator-prey relationships between dominant phytoplankton and heterotrophic protists and the roles of the protist grazers in bloom dynamics in the waters off the western Korea.

• 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.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.299-314
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• 2021

Some species in the dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium are bioluminescent. Of the 33 formally described Alexandrium species, the bioluminescence capability of only nine species have been tested, and eight have been reported to be bioluminescent. The present study investigated the bioluminescence capability of seven Alexandrium species that had not been tested. Alexandrium mediterraneum, A. pohangense, and A. tamutum were bioluminescent, but A. andersonii, A. hiranoi, A. insuetum, and A. pseudogonyaulax were not. We also measured the bioluminescent intensity of A. affine, A. fraterculus, A. mediterraneum, A. ostenfeldii, A. pacificum, A. pohangense, A. tamarense, and A. tamutum. The mean 200-second-integrated bioluminescence intensity per cell ranged from 0.02 to 32.2 × 10⁴ relative luminescence unit per cell (RLU cell^-1), and the mean maximum bioluminescence intensity per cell per second (BL_Max) ranged from 0.01 to 10.3 × 10⁴ RLU cell^-1 s^-1. BL_Max was significantly correlated with the maximum growth rates of Alexandrium species, except for A. tamarense. A phylogenetic tree based on large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) showed that the bioluminescent species A. affine, A. catenella, A. fraterculus, A. mediterraneum, A. pacificum, and A. tamarense formed a large clade. However, the toxicity or mixotrophic capability of these species was split. Thus, their bioluminescence capability in this clade was more consistent than their toxicity or mixotrophic capability. Phylogenetic trees based on LSU rDNA and the luciferase gene of Alexandrium were consistent except for A. pohangense. The results of the present study can provide a basis for understanding the interspecific diversity in bioluminescence of Alexandrium.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2012

This study was determined to analysis marine environmental and phytoplankton monitoring in Wando coastal waters in August during the period of 2009-2010 and provided the basic environmental data against Southwest Sea of Korea. In August, 2009, the distribution of water temperature and salinity showed an unique characteristics for all of stations, which was associated with a long duration of rainfall after July, 2009 and a lack of sunshine. In the lower of August, 2010, the stratification of water temperature and salinity was shown, which was caused by an intensive sunshine after the middle of August, 2010. Gangjin Bay and Gogeundo waters showed a highly different water temperature and transparency. It is thought that two regions have a distinct water mass and characteristics. In dissolved oxygen and oxygen saturation were higher according to higher water depth regardless of stations. In August, 2009, different dominant species occurred that Gangjin Bay showed a higher cell density of diatom, but Gonyaulax polygramma played an important role in dominant species in Gogeundo waters. It is associated with the introduction red tide water of G. polygramma occurring to southern coastal water in August, 2009. In August, 2010, diatom was extremely higher cell density compared with that of dinoflagellate that regarded as adaptive microrganism against higher quantity of suspended solid in Wando waters. Although Wando has a record of Cochlodinium red tide, this species may be difficult to grow and persist. Dominant species, diatom, play an important role in food organism for shellfish and forming a ecological lineage.