본 연구는 거문도 해역에 자생하는 홍합의 수심별 분포 특성을 파악하고 공존 또는 경쟁하며 생활하는 주변 저서 생물상을 파악하고자 연구를 진행하였다. 홍합은 수심이 낮은 곳에서 밀도가 높고 비만도가 낮은 반면, 수심이 깊어질수록 밀도가 낮고 비만도가 높아지는 양상을 보이며, 형태적특성도 수심이 깊어질수록 증가하는 양상으로 나타났다. 이는 각장과 전중량의 상관관계식에서도 수심 2 m에 비하여 수심 12 m에서 높은 상관관계를 가지는 것으로 확인되어 수심에 따라 각장이나 각고의 성장 및 전중량에 영향을 미치는 것으로 파악되었다. 주변에 서식하는 저서생물 중 해조류는 홍합의 패각을 기질에 부착하여 서식하는 소형생물과 주변환경에 서식하는 대형생물로 구분할 수 있으며, 암반조하대의 서식특성으로 수심이 깊어질수록 광 량에 영향을 받아 밀도 및 생체량이 다소 감소하는 경향으로 분석되었다. 저서동물은 팔각따개비가 홍합의 패각과 주변 서식공간에 모두 분포하고, 굴의 경우는 함께 분포는 하고 있다. 그러나 수심 2 m 지점에서 굴이 우세한 지점에서 홍합이 다소 감소하는 경향을 보이며, 홍합이 우점하는 수심이 깊은 지점에서는 굴이 감소하는 경향으로 나타나 두 종 간의 공간경쟁에서 수심에 따른 영향을 보이는 것으로 파악되었다. 그 외 대형 해조류가 번성하는 지역의 경우, 홍합의 군집이 발달하지 않고 있어 대형해조류의 서식 유· 무에도 홍합의 생존이 영향을 받는 것으로 추정되었다

For the effective seedling production of the hard shelled mussel, Mytilus coruscus, this study assessed the effects of the dietary value of live food, density, water temperature and salinity on growth and survival rate of the larvae. The optimal survival rate and growth rate were examined under differing conditions of water temperature, salinity, and rearing density for 30 days. The three groups were provided different feeding organisms, such as Isochrysis galbana and Teleaulax suecica. The mixtures were provided at a rate of 5×104 cell mL-1. The best growth was observed in the group with conditions 21℃ water temperature (16.2±9.1 μm), 33 psu of salinity (16.82±3.9 μm), 2500 individual m-2 (17.2±5.9 μm), and fed with 5×104 cell mL-1 of I. galbana and T. suecica mixture (16.0±7.3 μm). The highest survival rate was found in the group at conditions 18℃ water temperature (66.4%), 33 psu of salinity (24.4%), 2500 individual m-2 (65.8%), and fed with 5×104 cell mL-1 of I. galbana and T. suecica mixture (58.8%). We therefore conclude that the suitable culture conditions for the stable production of hard shelled mussel artificial seedlings was at 18 to 21℃ of temperature, 30 to 33 psu of salinity, 2500 to 5000 individual m-2 of rearing density, and feeding supplement of 5×104 cell mL-1 of I. galbana and T. suecica mixture under semi running water system.

The heat shock proteins (Hsps), one of the most highly conserved groups of proteins, play crucial roles in protecting cells against environmental stressors, such as temperature, salinity, heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria. The glutathione S-transferases (GST) have important role in detoxification of oxidative damage, environmental chemicals and environmental stress. The purpose of this study is to investigate the gene expression of Hsp70 and GST on change of temperature and salinity in Mytilus coruscus. The M. coruscus was cultured in incubator of separate temperature and salinity (8, 20, 30℃×20‰, 25‰, 30‰) for 28 days. Ten individuals in each group were selected after each 14 and 28 days exposure. Results that the expression of Hsp70 mRNA was no significant changed in M. coruscus exposed to temperature (8℃, 20℃, 30℃) and salinity (20‰, 25‰, 30‰) for 14 days. Whereas the expression of Hsp70 mRNA was increased in exposure to temperature 30℃ and salinity (20‰, 25‰, 30‰) for 28 days. The expression of GST mRNA was increased in exposure to temperature 30℃, salinity (25‰, 30‰) for 14 days and temperature (8℃, 20℃, 30℃), salinity (20‰, 25‰, 30‰) for 28 days. These results suggest that Hsp70 and GST were played roles in biomarker gene on the thermal and salinity stress.

In this study, the KS A ISO Guide 35 was applied to develop analytical standards for heavy metal cadmium using the Korean mussel (Mytilus coruscus) and to evaluate the homogeneity and stability of the sample. Some of the crucial characteristics that reference materials must consist include homogeneity and stability of both intra- and inter-bottles. We tested homogeneity using ANOVA analysis and short-term stability using regression analysis. The variations of cadmium concentrations did not significantly differ between intra- and inter-bottles (F=0.41, p=0.90). For short-term stability verification, cadmium analysis results were not statistically significant as a result of the regression analysis (significance F=0.51, p=0.53). This suggests that we can not dismiss the null hypothesis that there is no significant variation in concentrations of cadmium over time. These results indicated that the cryogenic-milling process has statistically proven the short-term stability for materials from mussels in the chemical analysis of cadmium. Therefore, we propose that the Korean mussel’s reference material developed for the proficiency test could be used as a tool to evaluate reliability and consistency in laboratories.

Marine ecosystems are frequently exposed to a variety of chronic and acute pollutants derived from anthropogenic production and consumption activities. Mussels are sessile (can provide location-specific information), medium-sized (have enough tissue matrix for chemical analysis) filter-feeders (show accumulation of pollutant chemicals from seawater). These biological and ecological characteristics make mussels virtually ideal for pollution monitoring. In this study, Korean mussels (Mytilus coruscus) were collected from nine different sites situated along the coasts of the western sea to the eastern sea of Korea in 2017. Total mercury concentration was highest (mean ± standard error, 92.7 ± 3.5 ng/g dry) on Baengnyeongdo Island in the western sea, and the sites in the southern sea showed the lowest mean concentrations (42.3 - 44.5 ng/g dry). These results were discussed in terms of possible pollution sources.