황해 연안역 내생종으로 알려진 요각류 Acartia hongi의 범위 확장

Abstract

Present study described the distributional pattern of the copepod based on the natural or anthropogenic dispersion by extrapolating the previous studied results. The latitudinal characteristics are explained by different spatial distribution of A. hongi from coastal waters to seaward stations in the Yellow Sea. In north latitude, A. hongi was observed only at the station A07 located in the coastal waters. On the contrary, in south latitude, the copepod distributed from coastal waters to offshore waters despite the decreasing abundances seaward. This observation was unexpected and different pattern to previous reported results. This might be related to the natural dispersal caused by currents. At ports, the possible explainable hypotheses about the occurrence of A. hongi beyond their bioregions could be discussed as an introduction by (1) transfer through ship’s ballast water pumped up from domestic ports faced with the Yellow Sea, (2) transfer through ship’s ballast water pumped up from Chinese coastal waters adjacent to the Yellow Sea, and (3) passive transport through alongshore current from coastal regions of southwestern Korea. Consequentially, occurring range of A. hongi was expanded into the Gwangyang and Ulsan seaports beyond their bioregion. And distribution of the copepod was expanded from coastal waters to offshore waters at south latitude within the same bioregion in spring.