Skip Navigation



JPR Advance Access published online on December 5, 2007
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm102
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
30/3/251    most recent
fbm102v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yoon, W. D.
Right arrow Articles by Kang, H.-K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Yoon, W. D.
Right arrow Articles by Kang, H.-K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Physical processes influencing the occurrence of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) around Jeju Island, Korea

W. D. Yoon1,*, J.-Y. Yang1, M. B. Shim2 and H.-K. Kang3

1 Ocean Research Team, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, 408-1 Shirang-ri, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, 619-705, Korea 2 South Sea Oceanographic Office, National Oceanographic Research Institute, 1116-1, Beomil-5-dong, Dong-gu, Busan, 601-726, Korea 3 Marine Environment Research Department, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan P.O. Box 29, Seoul 425-600, Korea

* Corresponding author: wdyoon{at}nfrdi.re.kr

Received on October 18, 2007; revised on November 19, 2007; accepted on November 29, 2007


  Abstract

The physical and biological processes affecting the spatial distribution of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai were investigated in the northern East China Sea and southern Yellow Sea in July 2006, when large abundances of this jellyfish occurred in Korean waters. Well-characterized water masses were detected during the study period. These were the Tsushima Current water, Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water, and Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW). The spatial distribution of chlorophyll a concentrations estimated by ocean colour imagery showed that the CDW flows to the northeast. The CDW was accompanied by high abundances of small and medium-sized zooplankton (0.2–0.5mm and 0.5–1.0mm, respectively) and N. nomurai, in comparison with the other water masses. Large (1.0–2.0mm) and macro-sized zooplankton (2.0–5.0mm) did not show a relationship with the CDW. The distribution of N. nomurai was very restricted and intimately related with the CDW. In fact, large abundances only occurred in the western boundary region of the CDW. The results were supported by Pearson's correlation analysis, which showed a positive relationship between the CDW, small and medium-sized zooplankton, and the giant jellyfish. We conclude that the CDW had entrained N. nomurai into the waters off the southwest coast of the Korean peninsula and they were then transported into the Yellow and East/Japan seas.

Key Words: Jellyfish • Nemopilema nomurai • northern East China Sea • southern Yellow Sea • Changjiang Diluted Water

Communicating Editor: K. J. Flynn


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.