• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.81-91
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• 2011

To understand the spatio-temporal fluctuations and ecological characteristics of heterotrophic dinoflagellate $Noctiluca$ $scintillans$, we investigated their population densities and environmental factors during four seasons at 20 stations of Gwangyang Bay and at 23 stations of Jinhae Bay in 2010. $N.$ $scintillans$ was seasonally abundant during spring and summer, with temperature ranging 15 to $27^{\circ}C$ in the both bays, whereas the density reduced in fall and winter. The populations of $N.$ $scintillans$ at each station in both bays showed a significantly positive relationship with water temperature, indicating that relatively high water temperature within its optimum temperature stimulates the growth of $N.$ $scintillans$ population. In particular, low water temperature (<$4^{\circ}C$) and salinity (<12 psu) led to disappear of $N.$ $scintillans$ population, although they were observed at all season in both bays. Spatio-temporal variations of Chl.$a$ concentration was not significantly correlated with $N.$ $scintillans$ population densities. However, the $Noctiluca$ abundances were also high during spring and summer season when relatively high Chl.$a$ concentration was observed in both bays. This result suggests that standing crops of phytoplankton may be one of important contributing factors to enhance the abundance of $N.$ $scintillans$.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.149-161
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• 2022

Noctiluca scintillans is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate that causes red-colored oceans during the day (red tides) and glowing oceans at night (bioluminescence). This species feeds on diverse prey, including phytoplankton, heterotrophic protists, and eggs of metazoans. Thus, many scientists have conducted studies on the ecophysiology of this species. It is easy to cultivate N. scintillans at a scale of <1 L, but it is difficult to cultivate them at a scale of >100 L because N. scintillans cells usually stay near the surface, while prey cells stay below the surface in large water tanks. To obtain mass-cultured N. scintillans cells, we developed an automatic system for cultivating N. scintillans on a scale of 100 L. The system consisted of four tanks containing fresh nutrients, the chlorophyte Dunaliella salina as prey, N. scintillans for growth, and N. scintillans for storage, respectively. The light intensities supporting the high growth rates of D. salina and N. scintillans were 300 and 20 µmol photons m^-2 s^-1, respectively. Twenty liters of D. salina culture from the prey culture tank were transferred to the predator culture tank, and subsequently 20 L of nutrients from the nutrient tank were transferred to the prey culture tank every 2 d. When the volume of N. scintillans in the predator culture tank reached 90 L 6 d later, 70 L of the culture were transferred to the predator storage tank. To prevent N. scintillans cells from being separated from D. salina cells in the predator culture tank, the culture was mixed using an air pump, a sparger, and a stirrer. The highest abundance of N. scintillans in the predator culture tank was 45 cells mL^-1, which was more than twice the highest abundance when this dinoflagellate was cultivated manually. This automatic system supplies 100 L of N. scintillans pure culture with a high density every 10 d for diverse experiments on N. scintillans.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.372-379
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• 2006

In order to study temporal fluctuation and ecological characteristics of Noctiluca scintillans, its abundance was investigated in correlation with water temperature, salinity, precipitation, chlorophyll a concentration and copepods abundance in the coastal waters of Incheon from January 1999 to December 2000. N. scintillans was seasonally abundant during spring and autumn with temperature ranging from 10.3 to $21.5^{\circ}C$, but depleted in winter and summer. Low temperature below $4.5^{\circ}C$ in winter and low salinity due to high rainfall in summer led N. scintillans to disappear. A Cross Correlation Analysis (CCA) showed that chlorophyll a concentration was positively correlated with abundance of N. scintillans at the time lags of 10 days. This suggests that phytoplankton may be a contributing factor for increasing abundance of N. scintillans. During spring, eggs of Acartia hongi were found in 2.9 to 21.1% of individuals of N. scintillans. It was deduced that 1.2 to 49.5% of the eggs produced by A. hongi was preyed upon by N. scintillans. Therefore, N. scintillans may control the population size of initial developmental stage of A. hongi in the costal waters of Incheon.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.308-321
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• 2013

In order to understand the population dynamics of red tide dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans, we examined its hydrographical and bio-ecological characteristics at 19 to 20 stations of Gwangyang Bay during all four seasons from 2010 to 2012. During the 3-year period, N. scintillans was seasonally abundant during summer with water temperatures ranging from $15^{\circ}C$ to $22^{\circ}C$ and salinity ranging from 25 psu to 30 psu. On the other hand, N. scintillans population density significantly decreased in spring, fall and winter, although they were present even in lower temperatures (< $4^{\circ}C$). However, high water temperature (> $27^{\circ}C$) and low salinity (< 12 psu) led to the disappearance of N. scintillans population. Chl-a concentration in winter, spring and fall was positively correlated with N. scintillans population density, whereas the N. scintillans population was negatively correlated with Chl-a concentration in summer. This implies that densities of prey population such as diatoms are one of important contributing factor for maintaining abundance of N. scintillans in winter, spring and fall and for increasing abundance of N. scintillans in summer. During summer season, bio-accumulation of N. scintillans population by the wind from southwest is also considered to be a key factor in triggering the formation of large-scale blooms in Gwangyang Bay.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.160-172
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• 2020

To understand on-site feeding traits of Noctiluca scintillans with unprecedented high abundances around Dokdo in spring, 2014, the composition and abundance of food items in the digestive vacuole of the species were analyzed. Abundances of N. scintillans ranged from 4,328~17,791 inds.m^-3 around Dokdo during the study. The incidence of preyed items in the vacuole of N. scintillans ranged by averaged 32% (24~50%) in the surface waters around Dokdo. Diverse preyed items consisted of fecal pellet, protozoans, pollen, diatoms, dinoflagellates, copepods and ichtyoplankton, while fecal pellets were dominantly fed by N. scintillans (43%) and next by protozoans (19%), pollen (18%), diatoms (7%) and dinoflagellates (4%). Fecal pellet, protozoans and pollen were relatively preferred by N. scintillans compared to diatoms, dinoflagellates and ichtyoplankton based on the incidence in the food vacuoles. Present results indicated that high abundance of N. scintillans found around Dokdo was likely associated with non-phytoplankton items rather than previously well-known diatoms as prey during the study.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.449-462
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• 2010

Ongoing port baseline surveys are essential for developing ballast water management procedures in order to control unwanted or potentially risky species. Seasonal distributional patterns of marine dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans internationally recognized as harmful species and the related environmental factors were surveyed at Incheon, Gwangyang and Ulsan seaports in Korea from 2007 to 2009. The above three seaports were chosen because of their status as the busiest in Korea and characterized by their different bioregions. Average temperature ranged from $2.08^{\circ}C$ in winter to $26.39^{\circ}C$ in summer at Incheon, $7.22^{\circ}C$ in winter to $25.77^{\circ}C$ in summer at Gwangyang, and $11.59^{\circ}C$ in winter to $21.67^{\circ}C$ in summer at Ulsan during the study period. Average salinity varied from 26.88 in winter to 31.25 in summer at Incheon, 22.83 in winter to 33.41 in summer at Gwangyang, and 30.04 in winter to 33.90 in summer at Ulsan. Noctiluca scintillans appeared consistently at all ports during the study period, indicating its eurythermal and euryhaline nature. The highest abundances (21,813 to 41,753 $inds{\cdot}m^{-3}$) of N. scintillans were observed in May 2008 and 2009 at the outer stations of Incheon port. Abundances of between 10,000 and 30,000 $inds{\cdot}m^{-3}$ were only observed at the innermost station of Ulsan in May, while abundances of between 10,000 and 40,000 $inds{\cdot}m^{-3}$ were frequently observed throughout all stations at Gwangyang during the study period, coinciding with consistently high concentration of chlorophyll-a (hereafter chl-a) ($4.32-8.24\;{\mu}g\;l^{-1}$) compared to other ports. Spatio-temporal variation of chl-a concentration was not significantly correlated with abundances of N. scintillans (p>0.01). However, relatively high chl-a concentrations were consistently recorded along with high abundances of N. scintillans throughout all stations at Gwangyang compared to other ports. Abundances of N. scintillans observed at the three surveyed ports did not significantly (p>0.01) affect the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the surface mixed layer, indicating that the species abundances were not enough to cause reduction of dissolved oxygen during the study period. Presented results indicated that the Gwangyang seaport may provide the most suitable environment for a wide range of N. scintillans blooming compared to other ports.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2010

Daily samples were collected during summer in order to analyse changes in the mesozooplankton community and to identify the major environmental factors that may influence mesozooplankton abundance in Jangmok Bay. A single site in the bay was sampled 47 times from July to September 2003. Mesozooplankton community, hydrographic (watertemperature, salinity, dissolvedoxygen) and biological (chlorophyll-a, ciliates densities, Noctiluca scintillans densities) factors were determined. The mesozooplankton abundance varied remarkably from 954 to $14,816\;inds.\;m^{-3}$. The six taxa of Evadne tergestina, barnacle nauplii and cypris, Paracalanus parvus s.1., Acartia omorii, Penilia avirostris and Sagitta crassa dominated numerically, contributing 86% of total mesozooplankton abundance. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was applied to find correlation between environmental factors and fluctuation in the abundance of dominant species and mesozooplankton. A. omorii was significantly correlated with temperature and N. scintillans densities. E. tergestina was correlated with temperature, salinity, and ciliate densities, whereas P. avirostris was correlated with temperature and dissolved oxygen. Among the environmental factors, mesozooplankton abundance correlated most strongly with N. scintillans densities. Accordingly, N. scintillans may be a key player in controlling the fluctuation of mesozooplankton abundance as a strong competitor for same food resources.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2009

The short-term variations of the mesozooplankton community structure were investigated in Gamak Bay during summer season, 2006. The study was based on a comprehensive survey constituting from 12 stations on June 19, July 28, August 4, and August 29, respectively. Mean of temperature and chlorophyll ${\alpha}$ concentrations in the surface layer were significantly higher than those in bottom layer, and those concentrations were significantly higher in the inner bay than those in the outer bay. A total of 40 taxa including 19 copepods were observed in Gamak Bay during summer season. Mean abundance of total mesozooplankton varied from 1,859 to 26,111 indiv. $m^{-3}$. The dominant species were Noctiluca scintillans, Penilia avirostris, Evadne tergestina, Paracalanus parvus s. 1., Acartia omorii and Cirriped nauplii and cyprii in Gamak Bay, and they contributed 90% of mean abundance of total mesozooplankton. Noctiluca scintillans was high after the rainfall. Cluster analysis showed that the mesozooplankton community could be divided into 4 distinct groups, indicating rapid change of the community in the short-term of this survey. The relative contribution of each group of the N. scintillans, P. avirostris, E. tergestina, and P. parvus s. 1. showed differences during the phytoplankton bloom period. The mesozooplankton community compositions were highly associated with water temperature, and salinity in physical conditions, and food organisms affect short-term variations in mesozooplankton composition. Interestingly, protozoa N. scintillans, and Cladocera appeared to be one of the key organisms to extinguish the phytoplankton bloom. Therefore, this study suggests that N. scintillans, and Cladocera could be a key player to control the mesozooplankton community structure during summer season, 2006.

• ALGAE
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

Many dinoflagellates produce bioluminescence. To estimate the intensity of bioluminescence produced by populations of the heterotrophic dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans and Polykrikos kofoidii and autotrophic dinoflagellate Alexandrium mediterraneum in Korean waters, we measured cellular bioluminescence intensity as a function of water temperature and calculated population bioluminescence intensity with cell abundances and water temperature. The mean 200-second-integrated bioluminescence intensity per cell (BL_cell) of N. scintillans satiated with the chlorophyte Dunaliella salina decreased continuously with increasing water temperature from 5 to 25℃. However, the BL_cell of P. kofoidii satiated with the mixotrophic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum continuously increased from 5 to 15℃ but decreased at temperatures exceeding this (to 30℃). Similarly, the BL_cell of A. mediterraneum continuously increased from 10 to 20℃ but decreased between 20 and 30℃. The difference between highest and lowest BL_cell of N. scintillans, P. kofoidii, and A. mediterraneum at the tested water temperatures was 3.5, 11.8, and 21.0 times, respectively, indicating that water temperature clearly affected BL_cell. The highest estimated population bioluminescence intensity (BL_popul) of N. scintillans in Korean waters in 1998-2022 was 4.22 × 10¹³ relative light unit per liter (RLU L^-1), which was 1,850 and 554,000 times greater than that of P. kofoidii and A. mediterraneum, respectively. This indicates that N. scintillans populations produced much brighter bioluminescence in Korean waters than the populations of P. kofoidii or A. mediterraneum.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.902-908
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• 2017

To determine the horizontal and temporal distribution of firefly squid, Watasenia scintillans (W. scintillans), larvae, we conducted surveys using IKMT (mesh size: $500{\mu}m$) and CTD (SBE9plus) with Fisheries Research Vessel (FRV, TAMGU 21) in the southern part of the East Sea in summer (August) and autumn (September and November) 2015. A total of 238 larvae, ranging in mantle length (ML) from 0.6 mm to 18.5 mm, were collected at 28 stations. Abundance and larval distribution density were significantly higher in summer than in autumn during the study period. Especially, the highest density of W. scintillans was observed in the coastal waters of the East Sea from Pohang to Pyunghae where cold water masses were distributed in summer. Optimum embryo survival temperature ($6-16^{\circ}C$) 40 to 180 m depth ranges for stations which larvae were collected.