• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.6-18
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• 2001

Larvae of the gunnel Pholis fangi were collected in coastal waters off Daecheon with a bag net from March to June, 1988, and with a ring larva net in February 1989. Maturity and spawning period were analyzed by examination of the gonads of adult fish collected with a bag net from May 1998 through November 1999. In February, the larvae were widely distributed in the outer and inner Cheonsu Bay. From March to April the larvae were present mainly the inner bay; they were absent there in May and found mainly in the outer bay. After June, few gunnel larvae were collected in the study area. This suggests a seaward movement of gunnel from the nursery grounds of the bay to offshore feeding grounds. The otolith of larvae smaller than 10 mm in total length did not show a distinct growth stop. The growth stop is believed to be formed in the early larval stage when the total length is about 10 mm. This period coincides with the time of shoreward migration, suggesting a metabolic change during this period. At a total length of 30 to 40 mm, the shape of the otolith changes from spherical to elongate. Daily growth rate in length was estimated by the Gompertz equation, which is represented as follows: TL = 6.702exp{2.925"1-exp (-0.008 t)"} ($r^2=0.94$, N = 92) Assuming daily deposition of growth increments in the otolith, the time of first growth increment formation was shown to be from December to January. Gonad observations show that Pholis fangi spawns from November to December. So, the hatching time is thought to be about one month.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.265-273
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• 2001

The sea urchin has been used as sea food in many countries. This species has also been an important organism of embryological studies for more than a century. In recent years, sea urchin embryos are being used as testing materials for toxicity of pollutants and toxins. Usefulness of sea urchin embryos as experimental models comes from the easiness in obtaining sea urchin samples and a lot of gametes, in rearing embryos in the laboratory, in observing the cellular movement and organ formation during the embryogenesis and in manipulating blastomeres and genetic maferials. The sea urchin in itself is a key organism for the understanding of deuterostome evolution from the protostomes and of indirect development of marine invertebrates which undergo the planktotrophic larval stage. A fertilized sea urchin egg goes through rapid cleavage and becomes a 60 cell embryo 7hr after fertilization. It then develops into a morula, a blastula, a gastrula and finally a pluteus larva approximately 70 hr after fertilization. At the 60 cell stage, the embryo comprises of five territories that express territory-speciflc genes and later form different organs. Micromeres at the vegetal pole ingress into the blastoceol and become the primary mesenchyme cells(PMCs). PMCs express genes involved in skeletogenesis such as SM30, SM37, SM50, PM27, msp130. Among the genes, SM37 and SM50 are considered to be members of a gene family which is characterized by early blastula expression, Glycine-Proline-Glutamine rich repeat structures and spicule matrix forming basic proteins. Genetic studies on the sea urchin embryos help understand the molecular basis of indirect development of marine invertebrates and also of the biomineralization common to the animal kingdom.