• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.131-141
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• 2005

The ichthyofauna and structure of the fish community of Hapcheon Lake on the Hwang River were surveyed at six localities from May 2004 to Feb. 2005. There were 36 species belonging to 31 genera and 12 families in the Hapcheon Lake system. Of these, 24 species (66.7%) were cyprinids; cobitids and centropomids were next with 2 species (5.6%) each. The dominant species in the Hapcheon Lake system was Hemiculter eigenmanni (relative abundance 28.4%), the subdominant species Hemibarbus labeo (24.1%). Ten species (28.3%) of the 36 were Korean endemic species. Among the endemic species, H. eigenmanni and Squalidus chankaensis tsuchigae were abundant at each locality except site 6, but the eight other species were rare. In biomass, H. labeo comprised about 36.5% of the total weight, H. eigenmanni 22.3%, Cyprinus carpio 7.5%, Hypomesus nipponensis 6.9%, Culter brevicauda 3.7% and Lepomis macrochirus 3.6%. Average dominance, diversity, and evenness index of the fish community collected from six localities in the Hapcheon Lake system were 0.21, 0.85, and 0.67, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.165-176
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• 2022

This study surveyed the characteristics of fish communities in Hwapocheon Wetland, Korea, from May to September 2020. The survey collected 735 objects in 21 species belonging to 7 families from 8 survey stations. The dominant and subdominant species were Hemiculter eigenmanni(23.8%) and Micropterus salmoides(10.3%), respectively. The next most abundant species were Zacco platypus(9.5%), Carassius auratus(9.4%), Pseudorasbora parva(9.0%), Squalidus chankaensis tsuchigae(6.7%), Acheilognathus macropterus(5.4%), Lepomis macrochirus(5.2%), Pseudogobio esocinus(4.1%), Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis(3.7%), and Carassius cuvieri(3.3%). Among the fish species collected, one species, Culter brevicauda, was class II endangered wildlife designated by the Ministry of Environment, and one species,S. c. tsuchigae(4.8%), was endemic to Korea.Additionally, three exotic species (M. salmoides, L. macrochirus, and C. cuvieri) and one landlocked species (Rhinogobius brunneus) were collected. Compared to previous studies, the proportion of fish living in the running water area tended to decrease, the proportion of fish living in the water purification area tended to increase, and ecosystem-disturbing species (M. salmoides and L. macrochirus) tended to increase gradually. Results of fish community analysis showed that the mainstream stations (St. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8) had low dominance, but high diversity and richness, and other stations (St. 2 and 7) had high dominance but low diversity and richness. The river health (index of biological integrity) evaluated using fish was assessed as bad (6 stations), normal (1 station), and very bad (1 station). The water quality grade was assessed as slightly bad due to the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic content (TOC), suspended solid (SS), and total coliforms (TC). The annual water quality showed a gradually increasing trend of biological oxygen demand (BOD), COD, SS, and chlorophyll-a. The stable life of fish and the improvement of river health in Hwapocheon Wetland require water quality improvement and the systematic management of ecosystem-disturbing species (M. salmoidesand L. macrochirus).

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.103-115
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to analyze fish fauna and species compositions along with trophic guilds, tolerance indicators, and fish community conditions before weir construction (BWC) and after weir construction (AWC) in the Yeongsan River watershed. Total 45 and 44 fish species were sampled in BWC and AWC, respectively without any distinct differences through weir constructions. Fish fauna analysis revealed that the dominant species was the same, Zacco platypus with 24.3% and 20.8% in BWC and AWC, respectively. However, the subdominant species were Carassius auratus with 8.9% in BWC but Opsarichthys uncirostris amurensis with 20.3%, almost identical that of the dominant species AWC. This phenomenon showed the distinct modification of species composition in the watershed. We sampled the $1^{st}$ class endangered species, Liobagrus obesus in tributary stream as previously reported. Also Culter brevicauda was sampled in the mainstream of Yeongsan River watershed and this was the first sampled record in this watershed. One of the most important features were an increase of exotic species, such as Micropterus salmoides and Lepomis macrochirus, with 3.2% BWC vs. 10.2% AWC as well as the increase in tolerant species with 49.2% BWC vs. 73.7% AWC, indicating ecological degradation through weir construction. Overall, our results indicated that fish fauna and composition analyses showed distinct ecological degradations related to increases of exotic and tolerant species AWC. Further long-term studies of fish monitoring should be conducted in the future to configure existent status of river conditions and to provide key information in order to conserve the healthy ecosystem.