• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.240-247
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• 2014

Tubificid oligochaetes are common and frequently dominant in freshwater benthic habitats. They are so tolerant to water pollution that they are often used as biological indicators. Faunistic studies of Korean freshwater oligochaetes have been actively conducted recently. The most well studied oligochaete family in Korea is the tubificids following the naidids. Nine species of tubificids have been reported so far. Nevertheless, many species of tubificids still remain to be discovered in Korea. In this study, we added four species of tubificid oligochaetes to the Korean fauna, including Linmodrilus profundicola (Verrill, 1871), Potamothrix heuscheri (Bretscher, 1900), Tubifex blanchardi $Vejdovsk\acute{y}$, 1891, and Ilyodrilus templetoni (Southern, 1909) based on specimens collected from three locations in Korea: Cheonan-si, Geoje-si, and Seocheon-gun. In particular, P. heuscheri was first reported in Asia.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.279-288
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• 2016

Aquatic oligochaete plays an important role in freshwater ecosystem. These worms, therefore, have already been extensively studied around the world. But compared to other countries with East Asia, only 48 species of aquatic oligochaetes have been recorded in Korea. This is because taxonomic study of aquatic oligochaete is in just beginning stages. Our specimens of this study had been collected from eighteen locations in Korean peninsula. Analyzing them we identified twenty unrecorded species including one species of aelosomatid: Paranais orientalis, Pristina breviseta, P. notopora, P. foreli, P. synclites, Bratislavia prosetosa, Allonais gwaliorensis, Aulodrilus pluriseta, Limnodrilus neotropicus, L. maumeensis, L. amblysetus, Tubifex ignotus, Potamothrix cf. bedoti, P. bavaricus, Peipsidrilus cf. pusillus, Psammoryctides albicola, Varichaetadrilus vestibulatus, Tasserkidrilus cf. acapillatus, Propappus volki, Aeolosoma japonicum.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.355-361
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• 2017

In this study, we investigated the response of freshwater oligochaete, Tubifex tubifex, to the water temperature changes and the differences of substrate composition in a laboratory condition. The changes of body shape were observed in a test cage according to the water temperature change ranging from $10^{\circ}C$ to $30^{\circ}C$ with $2^{\circ}C$ interval every 10 minutes. The substrate preference was observed with four different substrate composition from silt-clay to coarse sand. Our results displayed that T. tubifex preferred substrates with the smallest particle size (<0.063 mm). The water temperature influenced on the activity and body shape of T. tubifex, showing low activity with the coiled and constricted body shapes at lower temperature and high activity with relaxed linear body shapes at higher temperature.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.407-410
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• 2011

Aquatic Oligochaeta is a notable animal group in freshwater environment such as streams, rivers and lakes in view of its biomass and species richness. Taxonomic studies of this group, however, have hardly been performed in Korea. Here five naidid oligochaete species are reported - Slavina appendiculata, Pristina longiseta, Pristina biserrata, Chaetogaster diaphanus and Nais variabilis - from the Seokhyeoncheon Stream in Yangju and from the Changreungcheon Stream in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. Aquatic oligochaetes attaching on aquatic vegetations were collected with a plankton hand net. An image and description on Nais variabilis new to Korea are provided.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2015

The oligochaete worms in the genus Nais are common to freshwater habitats. These worms have a highly-developed prostomium and pigmented eye spots. All species have hair chaetae, bifid or single pointed needle chaetae on the dorsal side and ventral chaetae beginning in II with bifid crotchets. Most species of Nais genus live in areas where bottom is covered by sand, gravel or organic matter in aquatic plants. Currently, 26 species of Nais have been recorded worldwide. From the recent faunal studies, 3 species of Nais have been newly reported in Korea. Here, we newly report 6 species of Nais with diagnosis, illustrations and identification keys to Korean Nais species: N. behningi, N. pseudobtusa, N. simplex, N. bretscheri, N. stolci and N. elinguis.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.507-512
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• 2013

Aquatic oligochaetes were investigated from a small amount of sediment sampled from the Jungnang Stream, an urban stream in Seoul, Korea, in November 2012. Sorted oligochaetes were observed under a light microscope in a drop of carbonated water, and then preserved in 70% ethanol. Some specimens were slide mounted using glycerin and Eupharal. As a result, the following 12 species were identified including 8 new Korean records, Bothrioneurum vejdoskyanum Stolc, Branchiodrilus hortensis (Stephenson), Chaetogaster cristalinus Vejdosky, Nais communis Piguet, Nais pardalis Piguet, Dero obtusa d'Udekem, Piguetiella denticulata Liang, and Haemonais waldvogeli Brescher and 4 additional known species, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Cleparede, Branchiura sowerbyi Beddard, Chaetogaster diastrophus (Gruithuisen), and Stylaria fossularis Leidy. This study shows how freshwater oligochaetes are diverse even in urban streams in Korea, if a proper sampling and examining method is employed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2016

Oligochaetes distribute widely in freshwater ecosystem, and some species are used as bioindicators for water quality assessment because they are tolerant to organic enrichment. They are acknowledged for potential for environmental health recovery of organic polluted environment. There are a lot of studies on ecology and toxicity assessment using oligochaetes in aquatic environment. In this study, we reviewed literature on ecotoxicology of aquatic oligochaetes. We searched literature from a database 'google scholar' by using keywords such as aquatic, oligochaete, and toxicity. The literature were summarized according to publication years, species, test methods, and chemicals. We obtained 133 articles published from 1953 to 2015 from the database. Among them, 58 papers(43.6% of total) have been published in 1990s. Three species(Lumnbriculus variegatus, Tubifex tubifex, and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri) have been used most frequently in the study. Different species displayed different toxicological responses to different toxic chemicals. The results on the ecotoxicological study with aquatic oligochaetes revealed the possibility of the development for early warning system using aquatic oligochaetes to monitor aquatic ecosystem disturbance.