• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2007

For an efficient management and utilization of marine biodiversity information, we made an attempt to develop the Korea Marine Biodiversity Information System (KoMBIS), building a species name inventory of Korea marine organisms. The inventory includes 17 organism groups: phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae and halophyte, sponges, cnidarians, rotifers, nematodes, bryozoans, brachiopods, molluscs, echiurans, annelids, arthropods, echinoderms, urochordates and fish. The species names were collected from 37 different references and reviewed for validity by taxonomists, which resulted in 9,798 valid names in addition to 1,845 synonyms. The Korea marine species inventory is the first one of this kind, for previous Korean species name inventories were mostly composed of terrestrial and freshwater organisms. KoMBIS, the information system developed, contains not only the species name but also information on morphological and ecological characteristics such as distribution, DNA barcode, and references. This system is convenient for the inputting of new data and servicing users through the internet, so that management and utilization of the biodiversity information is more efficient. Linking the DNA barcode data with species information provides an objective measure for identification of a species, which accommodates the recommendation of Consortium for the Barcode of Life, and makes the Korea marine biodiversity information compatible with international databases. Considering the frequent exchange of marine organisms internationally via ballast water and such issues as climate change, this information system will be useful in many areas of marine biodiversity.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.189-195
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• 1989

The ecological studies of the benthic polychaetes were carried out in the follow Sea for the period of August 1982 through February 1986. Special emphasis were placed on quantitative species composition and the importance of polychaetes in the benthic community. Polychaete group ranked numerically high, composing $35.1\~46.4\%$ of the total benthos. In the biomass, echinoderms or mollusks showed as a dominant group, but the range of its seasonal variation was very large. Due to the use of sampling gear, the relative importance of polychaetes was somewhat different. The case of a dredge showed a little lower composition rate of polychaetes than a grab one. This result was caused by high density of benthic animals because the dredge would tow only much more surface sediments than the grab sampler. The present studies included a total of 141 species and the representative polychaetes in this area were Spiophanes bormbyx, Ampharete arctica, Geniada maulata, Nephtys caeca, Nothria iridescens.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.224-229
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• 1987

The ecological studies of the benthic polychaetes of the Yellow Sea were carried out for five years from August 1982. The emphasis of the research were placed on clarification of the distributional pattern and characteristic species of environmental factors on the polychaete community. Based on the polychaete samples analysed during the study period, it was possible to divide the polychaetes into five ecological groups : 18 warm water, 22 cold water, 20 cosmopolitan, 29 endemic, and 7 amphi-pacific species, Anaitides koreana, Aglaophamus sinensis, Nephtys polyoranchia, Nephtys caeca, Glycera capitata, and Scoloplos armiger seem to be characteristic species of sand bottom, while Haploscoloplos elongatus and Ophelina aulogaster of mud bottom. A total of 6 benthic communities have been recognized from the dominant benthic fauna found. In each benthic communities, dominant and characteristic polychaete species were clarified according to their ecological types. In general, as echinoderms such as Ophiura kinbergi, Amphioplus megapomus, and Luidia quinaria are distributed widely and found in high density, their influence on the distribution of most polychaetes is clearly shown.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2003

Cytokines represent an essential part of the innate immune response in mammals. Recently, several studies have reported the presence of cytokine-like activities and molecules in the invertebrates such as echinoderms, tunicates, mollusks and insects. In our serial study, we investigated presence of cytokines in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, infected with several immune inducers. Western blotting analysis using rabbit anti-human cytokines showed the presence of IL-6-like molecule in the hemolymph collected at 8 and 24 hrs after infection with peptidoglycan and oligodeoxynucleotide, and the molecular weight of the proteins was ∼45 kDa. We attempted to isolate the molecule by gel permeation HPLC, anion exchange chromatography, ultra centrifugation, and immuno-dot-blot assay, but until now the effort was not much successful yet. It, however, does not appear that the IL-6-like molecule in the silkworm larvae is a mere experimental artifact happened by Western blotting analysis. Instead, further experiment on this subject probably will provide us more fruitful result as detected in other invertebrates including insects.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.39 no.spc1
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• pp.151-164
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• 2006

We monitored the current macrozoobenthic community structure after the Sea Prince oil spill around Keumo-do and Sori-do, Korea. Macrobenthic animals were collected seasonally around Sori-Keumo do using a van Veen grab ($0.1m^2$) from October 1999 to April 2000. In total, 196 species were identified at 46 sites around Keumho-do. The mean density was 1,460 individuals/$m^2$, and polychaetes comprised 80% of the total density of the macrozoobenthic. Dominant species were the polychaete Tharyx sp. (51%), the echinoderm Amphioplus megapomus (5%) and the polychaete Lumbrineris longifolia (3%). We identified 176 macrobenthic species at 36 sites around Sori-do. The mean density was 1,068 individuals/$m^2$, and polychaetes was the most abundant faunal group, comprising 41%, followed by mollusks (24%) and echinoderms (20%). Dominant species in Sori-do were the mollusk Potamocorbula amurensis (23%), the chinoderm Amphioplus megapomus (14%), and the polychaete Tharyx sp. (10%). The overall community structures in the study area showed few seasonal changes, although there was a gradual change in the species composition within each benthic community. Tharyx sp. was the most abundant species in the study area. Because this species has not been found in the other coastal areas except during recent investigations, it is considered to have increased during the course of community succession after the oil spill. The macrozoobenthic around Keumo-do showed little change in species richness, whereas around Sori-do, it showed a few increases in species richness after the summer of 1998. The overall density showed the same trend as species richness. Based on improved community indices, we suggest that the macrozoobenthic communities around Sori-Keumo Islands are gradually recovering from the oil-spill damagecaused by the oil spill.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.151-156
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• 2018

The world is becoming overwhelmed with widespread diseases as antibiotic resistance increases at an alarming rate. Hence, there is a demanding need for the discovery and development of new antimicrobial drugs. The ocean is gifted with many organisms like phytoplankton, algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, mollusk, tunicates and echinoderms, which are known to produce a wide variety of bioactive secondary metabolites with pharmacological properties. Many new therapeutic drugs have emerged from marine invertebrates, although the large algal community is yet to be explored. The bioactivity possessing secondary metabolites of marine algae include polyphenols, phlorotannins, alkaloids, halogenated compounds, sulfated polysaccharides, agar, carrageenan, proteoglycans, alginate, laminaran, rhamnan sulfate, galactosylglycerol, and fucoidan. These metabolites have been found to have great antimicrobial activities against many human aliments. Studies show that the algal community represents about 9% of biomedical compounds obtained from the sea. This review looks at the evolution of drugs from the ocean, with a special emphasis on the antimicrobial activities of marine algae.

• Geosciences Journal
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.975-987
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• 2018

Stable isotope ratios of $^{18}O/^{16}O$ and $^{13}C/^{12}C$ and rare earth elements geochemistry of the Upper Triassic carbonates from the Baluti Formation in Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq were studied in two areas, Sararu and Sarki. The aim of the study is to quantify the possible diagenetic processes that postdated deposition and the paleoenvironment of the Baluti Formation. The replacement products of the skeletal grains by selective dissolution and neomorphism probably by meteoric water preserved the original marine isotopic signatures possibly due to the closed system. The petrographic study revealed the existence of foraminifers, echinoderms, gastropods, crinoids, nodosaria and ostracods as major framework constituents. The carbonates have micritic matrix with microsparite and sparry calcite filling the pores and voids. The range and average values for twelve carbonate rocks of ${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}^{13}C$ in Sararu section were -5.3‰ to -3.16‰ (-4.12‰) and -2.94‰ to -0.96‰ (-1.75‰), respectively; while the corresponding values for the Sarki section were -3.69‰ to -0.39‰ (-2.08‰) and -5.34‰ to -2.70‰ (-4.02‰), respectively. The bivariate plot of ${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}^{13}C$ suggests that most of these carbonates are warm-water skeletons and have meteoric cement. The average ${\Sigma}REE$ content and Eu-anomaly of the carbonates of Sararu sections were 44.26 ppm and 1.03, respectively, corresponding to 22.30 ppm and 0.93 for the Sarki section. The normalized patterns for the carbonate rocks exhibit: (1) non-seawater-like REE patterns, (2) positive Gd anomalies (average = 1.112 for Sararu and 1.114 for Sarki), (3) super chondritic Y/Ho ratio is 31.48 for Sararu and 31.73 for Sarki which are less than the value of seawater. The presence of sparry calcite cement, negative $^{13}C$ and $^{18}O$ isotope values, the positive Eu anomaly in the REE patterns (particularly for Sararu), eliminated Ce anomaly ($Ce/Ce^{\ast}$: 0.916-1.167, average = 0.994 and 0.950-1.010, average = 0.964, respectively), and Er/Nd values propose that these carbonates have undergone meteoric diagenesis. The REE patterns suggest that the terrigenous materials of the Baluti were derived from felsic to intermediate rocks.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• no.nspc5
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• pp.47-60
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• 2005

The joint faunal survey of Jindo Island, Korea was performed by the Korean Society of Systematic Zoology during June 29-July 1, 2004 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary. In this study, 20 echinoderm species of 13 families, ten orders in four classes such as one crinoid species, seven asteroid species of four families in three orders, five ophiuroid species of three families in two orders, four echinoid species of two families in one order, and three holothuroid species of three families in three orders collected from six localities (Bealpo, Chopyung, Supum, Hoedong, Seomang, and $34^{\circ}11'N\;and\;126^{\circ}21'E)$ were identified. Of these, one crinoid (Antedon serrata), two asteroids (Solaster dawsoni and Distolasterias nipon) and one pohiudoid (Astrodendrum sagaminum) are newly added to the echinoderm fauna of Jindo Island and one holothudoid (Pseudocnus sp.) is newly recorded in Korean waters. The total 31 species are presently listed with some brief remarks and their distribution patterns are discussed based on the composition of geographical distribution forms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.530-530
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• 2000

The host defense system or immune system of all modern animals has their roots in very ancient organisms. After analyzing literature data concerning properties of invertebrates and vertebrates lectins we suggest that mechanism of mannans recognition may exist in marine invertebrates, as a universal mechanism for homeostasis maintenance and host defense, and mannan-binding lectins family of vertebrates has ancient precursor, as was shown for another S-type lectins family. We carried out the screening of mannan-binding type lectin among different species of echinoderms inhabiting in Piter the Grate Bay, the sea of Japan. As a result, the C-type lectins (SJL-32) specific for high mannose glycans was isolated from the coelomic plasma of the sea cucumbers Stichopus japonicus by ion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Toyopearl 650M, affinity chromatography on a mannan-Sepharose 6B and gel filtration on a Sephacryl S-200. SJL-32 is homodimer with molecular mass about 32 kDa on SDS-PAGE under non-reducing conditions. Protein part of the lectin has high conteins Asn, Glu, Ser. Hemagglutination of trypsin-treated O blood group human erythrocytes by SJL-32 was competitively inhibited by high-branched -D-mannan composed of -1,2 and -1,6 linked D-mannopyranose residues. In contrast, a variety of mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides composed of residues of galactose and fucose showed absence or little inhibitory activities. The lectin activity strong depends on Ca2+ concentration, temperature and pH. Monospecific polyclonal antibodies were obtained to the lectin. As was shown by ELISA assay, antibodies to SJL-32 cross-reacted with human serum mannan-binding lectin. This data allows making conclusion about common antigenic determinants and structural homology of both lectins. In our opinion, SJL-32 belongs to evolutionary high conservative mannan-binding lectins (MBLs) family and takes part in the host defense against pathogenic microorganisms.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.297-305
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• 2009

The Asian paddle crab, Charybdis japonica (A. Milne-Edwards) is an important fishery resource in Korea. Despite its common occurrence and commercial importance, few studies have been carried out on the life cycle and trophic ecology of these populations inhabiting on the tidal flat. Food habits of C. japonica populations were investigated on the Jangbong tidal flat, Incheon, Korea. Monthly samples were taken using a modified otter trawl from November 1999 to January 2001. Based on the examination of stomach contents from 257 individuals, the frequencies of occurrence and the relative volumes of food items were analysed. As a result, the crustaceans (the brachyura, the cirripedia and the harpacticoid copepoda), the echinoderms (the ophiuroidea) and the molluscs (the cephalopoda Loligo beka, the bivalves Bivalvia unid. and Mytilus galloprovincialis) were important food for this species. To examine ontogenetic shifts in diets, individuals of C. japonica were categorized into 2 different size classes (${\leq}60mm$ and ${\geq}61mm$ in carapace width) representing sexually premature and mature stages. The food items of the small crabs (${\leq}60mm$) were dominated by the crustaceans with the harpacticoid copepods constituting 84.6% of total prey number. The next group was the bivalves and the brachyurans. On the other hand, the large crabs (${\geq}61mm$) mainly feed on the bivalvia (Mytilus galloprovincialis and Bivalvia unid.), the brachyurans (Crab unid.) and occasionally the cephalopods and fishes. The difference in proportions of the main prey items among these two size classes was statistically significant. Therefore, the feeding habits of the portunid crab, C. japonica changed with growth.