• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.338-347
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• 2008

Grazing rate (GR) and feces production (FP) of freshwater snail Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata on two hibernal diatom communities were examined in a laboratory. Snail with the similar size (4.2$\sim$5.8 cm) were collected from the Gunsan and Okgu district (Jeonbuk), transferred to the artificial management system in laboratory, and starved for 3 day before the experiment. The feeding experiments were conducted at various conditions such as passage of time (0, 1, 4 and 7 hr), snail density (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 ind. $L^{-1}$) and kinds of prey (cold lake and stream water). One prey used in this study is the water of Lake Ilgam, the other is that of Han river. Lake Ilgam water was dominated by Synedra ulna (69.1%) and Scenedesmus sp. (6.6%), while Han river was by Asterionella formosa (69.4%) and Diatoma vulgare (27.7%). With the increment of snail density and time, the Chl-a concentration of two experimental waters were clearly decreased. Chl-a of Han river rapidly was decreased after 1 hour of snail treatment, while that of Ilgam lake was decreased after 4 hour. On the passage of time, a highest GR (1.94 L $g^{-1}\;h^{-1}$) showed at 1 hr, and then, decreased gradually to 0.04 L $g^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ by 7 hr. The highest FP (0.11 mg $L^{-1}$) showed at 7 hr. These results indicate that native snail Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata may be applied as a potential bio-filter to control diatom blooms in the cold lake and stream.