• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.367-376
• /
• 2009

Forty specimens of fossil ophiuroids were collected from two formations of the Cenozoic marine deposits, Duho Formation and Hagjeon Formation, Pohang Basin, Korea. A few specimens were three-dimensionally preserved: most of them were remained flattened and articulated. Although a gross morphology is well preserved in some specimens, the details such as disk shape and plates which is the most important diagnostic features were not observed. Most of the arms are disarticulated, and thus arm vertebra, arm spines and/or arm plates are separately preserved. Only an oral side is recognized in an attached specimens because crossing arms into disk are clearly visible. It is, thus almost impossible to identify Korean ophiuroid fossils as a species level or even a genus level. The fossils were classified into 3 groups by gross morphology of disk and arm, and architecture of vertebra. The most abundant fossils (32 specimens), were found only in the Hagjeon Formation. The majority of specimens are partially disarticulated, having only proximal and median portions of their arms preserved. Arm plates are disarticulated from arm vertebra: most of them show structure of arm vertebra. It has long and well-preserved arm spines, and large tentacle pore. Some specimens (4 specimens) from the Duho Formation is characterized by short and conical arm spines, and well-developed arm plates. Lateral arm plates are small in compared to dorsal and ventral arm plates. The others (4 specimens) is poor in preservation state showing circular oral disk and relatively short sinuous arms. No arm plates are either identified.

• 한국해양학회지
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.442-457
• /
• 1995

The relationships of environmental factors to the distribution patterns of the three species of ophiuroids, Ophiura kinbergi, O. sarsi and ). sarsi vadicola from Yellow Sea southeast seas and East Sea of Korea were studied to characterize their habitual niches. These three species chosen for study illustrated distinct niche and patterns according to their various preferences mainly for bottom water temperature, bottom water salinity and depth from seven environmental variables which were depth, bottom water temperature and salinity, density, bottom water oxygen content, grain size of the surface sediment, and sediment sorting coefficient. The results of habitat niche study mainly dealing with O. sarsi vadicola suggested that the optimum habitat rages were approximately 6$^{\circ}C$∼10$^{\circ}C$ in bottom temperature and 31%∼33.5% in bottom water salinity which also corresponded with the characteristic ranges of Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water and higher probabilities of occurrence (more than 70%) were found in depth ranging from 100 to 200 m. In addition, the habitats of O. kinbergi and O. sarsi were compared with that of O. sarsi vadicola. Their ranges of habitat niches were found to have different niches in physical space of bottom water temperature, bottom water salinity and depth. Based on the distribution pattern of O. sarsi vadicola in the Yellow Sea, the ecological barrier which confined the distribution of benthic macro-invertebrates in southern Yellow Sea was determined to be the Yellow Sea Warm Current (approximately 34% < and 18$^{\circ}C$ in December) which occurs between 33$^{\circ}$ and 34$^{\circ}$N of southern Yellow Sea in winter time.