In order to obtain the fundamental data about the behavior of conger by underwater audible sound, this experiment was carried out to investigate the hearing ability of Conger eel Conger myriaster which was in the coast of Jeju Island by heartbeat conditioning method using pure tones coupled with a delayed electric shock. The audible range of conger eel extended from 50Hz to 300Hz with a peak sensitivity at 80Hz including less sensitivity over 200Hz. The mean auditory thresholds of conger eel at the frequencies of 50Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 200Hz and 300Hz were 105dB, 92dB, 96dB, 128dB and 140dB, respectively. The positive response of conger eel was not evident after the sound projection of over 200Hz. At the results, the sensitive frequency range of conger eel is narrow in spite of swim bladder. Auditory masking was determined for Conger eel by using masking stimuli with the spectrum level range of about 60~70dB (0dB re 1μPa/Hz). According to white noise level, the auditory thresholds increased as compared with thresholds in a quiet background noise including critical ratio at 68dB of white noise from minimum 26dB to maximum 30dB at test frequencies of 80Hz and 100Hz. The noise spectrum level at the start of masking was distributed at the range of about 68dB within 80~100Hz.

Present study was conducted to improve the spring frame net trap for conger eel, Conger myriaster which prevents by-catch and protects immature fish. A series of comparative fishing experiment was carried out in water off the south-east coast of Korea from Nov. 2004 to Jul. 2005. And analyzed the amount of catch, by-catch rate, and CPUE, etc. of experimental traps which were the spring frame net traps, sorted four types of flappers. And the compared gear was a plastic conger eel pot. The conclusions were as follows. By-catch rates of spring frame net trap with the compressed flapper bound by nylon mono-filament was about 0-3%. CPUE of spring frame net trap with the compressed flapper was about 50-60% lower than that of traditional and plastic pot. And in case of conger eel that the total length is over 350mm, CPUE was little different on each type of flapper of every mesh size.

붕장어에 대한 스프링형 그물통발의 망목선택성 및 적정망목을 추정하기 위한 시험조업은 경남 거제시 능포 인근해역에서 2002년 9월25일~9월27일에 실시되었다. 시험어구는 현용어구인 15mm, 20mm 및 시험을 위해 제작한 25mm, 30mm 그리고 수산자원보호령에서 규정하고 있는 35mm와 대조어구로써 통수공 6.7mm의 플라스틱 통발을 각각 50개씩 제작하여 사용하였다. 망목선택성은 Kitahara(1968)와 Fujimori(1996)의 방법을 사용하여 분석하였고, 적정망목은 어체 동주와 체장과의 관계 그리고 망목선택성 Master Curve를 사용하여 추정하였다. 그 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 1. 시험조업 결과 총어획미수는 835미로, 붕장어 537미(64.4%), 게류 225미(26.9%), 기타 73미(8.7%)였다. 2. 망목선택성 곡선의 Master Curve에서 최대 전장/망목(max. 1/m)의 값은 23.9로 추정되었다. 3. 붕장어 스프링 통발의 적정망목은 34.0mm로 추정되었다.

붕장어 통발 어업에 있어서 침지 시간과 어획과의 관계를 조사하기 위하여, 연안 통발 조업선을 이용하여 2002년 3월 15일부터 2002년 4윌 7일 사이에 실시한 시험 조업의 결과를 요약하면 다음과같다. 1. 침지 시간 3시간, 6시간 그리고 12시간에서 평균 어획은 각각 44.6마리/60개, 60.0마리/60개 및 81.3마리/60개였고, CPUE(catch number 10pots·hour)는 3시간, 6시간 그리고 12시간의 침지 시간에서 각각 2.5마리, 1.7마리 및 1.1마리로 나타났다. 2. 침지 시간의 경과에 따른 잔존 미수의 변화는 24시간과 48시간 사이에서 11.3%, 48시간과 72시간 사이에서 3.3% 로 침지 시간이 증가함에 따라 잔존 미수의 변화를은 감소했다. 3. 12시간까지의 침지 시간에서 혼획률은 매우 낮았다(1.5-3%). 그러나 24시간 이상의 긴 침지 시간에서는 침지 시간이 경과함에 따라 혼획도 증가되는 것으로 나타났다. 붕장어에 대한 미끼의 유인 효과는 통발의 설치 후부터 곧바로 감소하는 것으로 추정되며, 미끼의 상태에 따라 어획량의 차이가 큰 것으로 나타났다.

Ghost fishing으로 추정되는 유실된 플라스틱 붕장어 통발에 어획된 붕장어의 섭이 상태와 개체의 성장에 대해 조사하기 위하여, 통발 조업선에 어획된 붕장어와 트롤 그물에 어획된 붕장어를 이용하여 비교 분석하였다. 어획된 붕장어의 평균 전장은 연안 통발 조업선과 시험 조업에서 어획된 것이 33.6cm, 트롤 그물에 어획된 것이 48.9cm 그리고 수거된 유실 통발에 어획된 것이 45.6cm이었다. 이러한 체장의 분포는 붕장어가 성장하면서 연안에서 외양으로 나간다는 사실과 일치한다. 위내용물 조사에서 먹이를 섭이하지 못해 위내용물이 전혀 없었던 붕장어의 비율은 통발 조업선 5.0%, 트롤 4.2% 그리고 유실 통발 87.6%로 유실 통발에서 17～20배 높게 나타났다. 먹이로써 어류를 섭이한 붕장어의 비율은 통발 조업선이 98.7%, 트롤이 78.8% 그리고 유실 통발이 63.3%로 나타났으며, 그 외의 먹이 생물은 갑각류와 두족류 등이었다. 순체중과 전장을 이용하여 계산한 비만도는 트롤 어획물이 1.514이고, 유실 통발 어획물이 1.292로서 약 15%의 차이가 있었으며, 이들 자료에 대한 공 분산분석에서 실시한 t검정 결과 5% 유의수준에서 위치의 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다.

Genomic DNAs were extracted from the muscle of twenty-one specimens of three eel species collected in Anguilla japonica (AJ), Muraenesox cinereus (MC) and Conger myriaster (CM) from the Yellow Sea, respectively. In the present study, 7 oligonucleotides primers generated 191 specific loci in the AJ species, 226 in the (MC) species and 181 in the CM species, respectively. The primer BION-02 generated the most loci (a total of 83), with an average of 11.86 in the AJ species. The specific loci generated by oligonucleotides primers exhibited inter-individual-specific characteristics, thus revealing DNA polymorphisms. With regard to average bandsharing value (BS) results, individuals from Conger myriaster species (0.808) exhibited higher bandsharing values than did individuals from Muraenesox cinereus species (0.729) (P<0.05). The longest genetic distance (0.430) displaying significant molecular difference was also between individual no. 01 within Anguilla japonica eel species and individual no. 04 within Anguilla japonica species. In this study, the dendrogram resulted from reliable seven oligonucleotides primers, indicating three genetic clusters composed of group I (ANGUILLA 01~ANGUILLA 07), group II (MURAENESOX 08~MURAENESOX 14) and group III (CONGER 15~CONGER 21). The existence of species differentiation and DNA polymorphisms among three eel species were detected by PCR analysis. As mentioned above, a dendrogram revealed close relationships between individual identities within three eel species. High levels of a significant genetic distance among three eel species showed this PCR approach is one of the most suitable tools for individuals and/or species biological DNA studies.

Three eel species such as Anguilla japonica (AJ), Muraenesox cinereus (MC) and Conger myriaster (CM), belonging to the order Anguilliformes, are the most popular marine products in Korea because of their taste and nutritional value, and Koreans consume them in large quantities. Eel, ecologically important warm water fish species widely distributed on the coast of the Yellow Sea, southern sea and the several sea areas under the natural ecosystem. However, in spite of their economic and scientific consequences, a little information currently exists regarding the genetic levels only of eel species in Korea. In this study, to explicate the genetic distances and differences among geographical eel species, the author accomplished a clustering analysis of three eel species collected from the Yellow Sea. PCR analysis was performed on DNA samples extracted from a total of 21 individuals using seven oligonucleotides primers. Muscle tissues were obtained separately from individuals from Anguilla japonica, Muraenesox cinereus and Conger myriaster, respectively. Eel muscle was collected in sterile tubes, instantaneously placed in liquid nitrogen, and stored at －40℃ until the genomic DNA extraction. Genomic DNA was extracted and purified under the conditions described previously (Yoon, 2008). After several washings, lysis bufferⅠ (155 mM NH4Cl; 10 mM KHCO3; 1 mM EDTA) was added to the samples, and the mixture tubes were gently inverted. The concentration of the extracted genomic DNA was measured by optical density at 260 nm by a spectrophotometer (Beckman Coulter, Buckinghamshire, UK). PCR was performed using two Programmable DNA Thermal Cyclers (MJ Research Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). Euclidean genetic distances within- and between-species were also calculated using the hierarchical dendrogram program Systatver.10 (SPSSInc., Chicago, IL, USA). Seven oligonucleotides primers were shown to generate the shared loci, specific loci, unique shared loci to each species and shared loci by the three species which could be obviously scored. In the present study, 7 oligonucleotides primers generated 191 specific loci in the AJ species, 226 in the MC species and 181 in the CM species, respectively. The specific loci generated by oligonucleotides primers exhibited inter-individual-specific characteristics, thus revealing DNA polymorphisms. The gDNA isolated from three eel species were amplified by PCR. Here, the seven oligonucleotide primers were used to generate the unique shared loci to each species and shared loci by the three eel species. With regard to average bandsharing value (BS) results, individuals from Conger myriaster species (0.808) exhibited higher bandsharing values than did individuals from Muraenesox cinereus species (0.729) (P<0.05). The dendrogram resulted from reliable seven oligonucleotides primers, indicating three genetic clusters composed of group I, group II and group III. The longest genetic distance (0.430) displaying significant molecular difference was also between individual no. 01 within Anguilla japonica eel species and individual no. 04 within Anguilla japonica species. From what has been said above, the potential of this analysis to ascertain diagnostic markers for the identification of three eel species has also been verified (McCormack et al., 2000; Yoon, 2008).