Journal of Environmental Biology

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July 2008, 29(4) 471-474 (2008)

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A short note on a euphausiid, Euphausia pacifica, an important food source to

demersal fishes in Uljin area, the eastern coast of Korea
Jinho Chae*1, Changhoon Han1, Jae Hac Lee2 and Jae Sang Hong3
1

Korea Institute of Coastal Ecology, 205-1 Juan 1 dong, Nam-gu, 402-835 Incheon, South Korea
Marine Environment Research Department, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute,
Ansan P.O. Box 29, Seoul 425-600, South Korea
3
Department of Oceanography, Inha University, 402-751 Incheon, South Korea

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(Received: February 22, 2007; Revised received: December 27, 2007; Accepted: January 11, 2008)

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Abstract: Gut contents of two species of demersal fishes, Pleurogrammus azonus and Dasycottus steiger were examined to understand the importance of
a euphausiid, Euphausia pacifica as prey of demersal fishes at coastal waters off Uljin, the eastern Korea where aggregations of large amounts of the
euphausiids were found. Euphausiids were significantly important food source to the species of fishes examined. All of the stomachs of P. azonus examined
contained euphausiids (% of a food item frequency occurred, F = 100%) in March and June 2003. Individual numbers of euphusiids in the guts ranged from
10 to 540 individuals per gut. Percents of individual number of food item were 99.60 and 99.96 for euphausiids in March and June 2003, respectively. The guts
of D. steiger also frequently contained euphausiids (F = 86.67 and 79.20% in October 2002 and June 2003, respectively), while amphipods (F = 36.67% and
16.17%,) and other fishes (F = 33.33% and 45.80%) were also often observed. Pleurogrammus azonus preferred larger euphausiids with size range
16.9 -28.4 mm, while the range of euphausiids distributed in the ambient water column was much broader (from eggs to adults).
Key words: Dermersal fishes, Dasycottus steiger, Pleurogrammus azonus, Gut contents, Euphausia pacifica
PDF of full length paper is available with author (*jinhochae@gmail.com)

understand the role of euphausiids as prey in contribution to the

ecosystem.

Materials and Methods

Samples were capt ured near the area where
euphausiids aggregations were observed with using an
ecosounder and nets, or nets in the previous study (Hwang et
al., 2005, Fig. 1). Among the fishes commercially caught in fishery
nets set close to the region of euphausiids aggregations, only
two fish species, Pleurogrammus azonus (arabesque greenling
or Okhostk atka mackerel) and Dasycottus steiger (spinyhead
sculpin) were available with sufficient amounts for data in the
collection of October 2002 (only in D. steiger), March 2003
(only in P. azonus) and June 2003, while other species captured
with small amounts also often included euphausiids in their guts.
We fixed dissected guts or only food items with 5% of
formaldehyde solution from 30 and 68 individuals of P. azonus
in 25 March and 7 June, 2003, and 30 and 25 individuals of D.
steiger in 29 October, 2002 and 7 June, 2003, respectively,
then counted the food items using a stereomicroscope (MZ 12.5,
Lei ca, Germany). Because m ost of t he f ood i t em s
were Euphausia pacifica in P. azonus and D. steiger guts, we
show the data only as% of the occurrence frequency of a food
item to all examined gut samples (F) and% of number of
individuals of a food item to that of whole food items (Cn, Godon
et al., 1985). Gut contents of some specimens of D. steiger
were digested in much progress, and data of Cn were not
available.

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Introduction
A large amount of euphausiids, Euphausia pacifica, has
been found in the eastern Korean water adjacent to Uljin in the
study using a scientific fishfinder w/ 200 kH transducer and multiple
horizontal-towing nets (Hwang et al., 2005). They often formed
near-bottom aggregation in the depth of 100-200 m approximately
during the day and performed diel vertical migration actively with
ontogenic changes in distributional area. High-density demersal
layers of euphausiids have been also detected in the submarine
canyons off Geoges Bank where high estimates of squid and
demersal fish production attributed to the ecosystem (Greene et al.,
1988). This study area off Uljin shows resemblance in bottom
topography with Geoges Bank in terms of submarine canyons
developed off the extension of Hupo Bank with 200 m in approximate
depth. The submarine canyons may cause a funneling effect that
would further concentrated the animals at the bottom (Greene et al.,
1988).

Euphausiids in general play an important role in pelagic

marine ecosystem, providing link in the food chain between lower
trophic level plankton and higher trophic level consumers such as
pelagic invertebrates, fishes, birds and mammals (Mauchline, 1980;
Greene et al., 1988). Although euphausiids are preferable food item
to commercially important fishes (Yang, 1996; 1999), little attention
has been paid to fish-euphausiid interaction in eastern Korean coast.
We examined gut contents of commercially important and
dominant demersal fishes in the water of Uljin, eastern Korea to
Special Issue - Marine Environmental Biology
Guest Editor - H.W. Shin, Korea

Journal of Environmental Biology

July, 2008

472

Chae et al.

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[ B ]

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[ A ]

[ C ]

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Fig. 1: Map showing area of collection of specimen. Solid line roughly

indicates fish capturing ground. Shaded area indicates krill aggregations are
detected with ecosounder and nets in separate study in October 2002,
March and June 2003

We used a multiple set of closed-open-close nets (mesh

aperture 300 m, mouth diameter 0.6 m) for collecting samples of
euphausiids in 4-5 June, 2003 and compared the body-lengths of
the Euphausia pacifica from the net collection with those of gut
contents of the Pleurogrammus azonus captured in 7 June, 2003.
The body length was measured from the anterior tip of the rostrum
(cephalothorax for calyptopis) to the distal end of the telson.

On

Results and Discussion

Euphausiids were significantly important food source to the
species of fishes examined (Fig. 2). All of the stomachs of
Pleurogrammus azonus examined contained euphausiids (F =
100%) in March and June 2003 (Table 1). Individual numbers of
euphusiids in the guts ranged from 10 to 540 ind / gut, probably
according to feeding rhythm of fish and/or different capturing time
which may have influence on progress of digestion. Squids were
the only alternative of food item found in P. azonus (Cn = 99.60 and
99.96 for euphausiids in March and June, 2003, respectively). The
guts of Dasycottus steiger also frequently contained euphausiids
(F = 86.67 and 79.20% in October 2002 and June 2003,

Journal of Environmental Biology

July, 2008

[ D ]

Fig. 2: A, A full stomach of the Pleurogrammus azonus before dissecting;

B, The gut contents mostly composed with a euphausiid, Euphausiid
pacifica; C, Bottled gut contents showing a large amount of euphausiids; D,
Undigested compound eyes of euphausiids among the remains in the gut of
Dasycottus setiger of which digestion progressed

Euphausia pacifica as an important food source to demersal fish

473

Table - 1: Gut contents of two species of demersal fishes, Pleurogrammus azonus, Dasycottus steige. F is % of the occurrence frequency of a food item
to all examined gut samples and Cn is % of number of individuals of a food item to that of whole food items
Fishspecies

Date of
capturing

Body length (cm)

No. of
individual
examined

Mean

Range

Food organisms
Cephalopods

Amphipods

Euphausiids
Cn

Cn

Cn

Fish
Cn
0.00
0.00

25 March, 2003
7 June, 2003

30
68

29.3
27.1

17.8-35.4
19.7-32.4

100.00
100.00

99.60
99.96

3.33
1.47

0.13
0.04

13.33
0.00

0.27
0.00

0.00
0.00

Dasycottus steiger

29 October, 2002
7 June, 2003

30
25

35.6
32.8

29.4-39.4
24.2-38.5

86.67
79.20

na
na

0.00
0.00

0.00
0.00

0.00
16.67

0.00
na

33.33 na
45.80 na

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Pleurogrammus azonus

30

% of ind in fish gut

25
20
15
10

8
27
-2

25
-2

23
-2

21
-2

19
-2

16
-1

13
-1

11
-1

7-

910

4
3-

5-

2.
0
0.
7-

0.
3-

0.
5

% of ind in water column

30
25
20
15
10
5

Co

25
-2
6
27
-2
8

13
-1
4
16
-1
7
19
-2
0
21
-2
2
23
-2
4

910
11
-1
2

Krill body length (mm)

Dasycottus steiger is epibiont to bathydemersal and widely

distributed in the coastal area of the North Pacific, the East Sea, the
Bering Sea, Aleutian chain, Strait of Georgia, Burrand Inlet, English
Bay, east coast of Vancouver Island, west coast of Graham Island
and southeast Pacific to Washington (Hart, 1973; Eschmeyer et al.,
1983; Lamb and Edgell, 1986; Allen and Smith, 1988; Shinohara et
al., 1994). Jewett et al. (1989) found crustaceans are the most
preferred prey among benthic invertebrates and fishes.

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78

34

56

0.
30.
5
0.
72.
0

(Meta)nauplius
Caliptopis
Furcilia

Sea (Yabe, 1983; Shinohara and Amaoka, 1994; Shinohara et al.,

1994; Sokolovskaya et al., 1998; Mecklenburg and Eschmeyer,
2003). The adults are benthic, while the fry often forms epipelagic
schools (Melnikov, 1996a,b). Even though it is very important
commercially in Korea and Japan, and may be an important food
source to other fishes such as chum salmon (and vice versa) and
seabird (Volkov et al., 1995; Nagasawa and Kaeriyama,1995;
Nagasawa, 1998; Takahashi et al., 2001), its role as predator is
little known in recent studies. Closely related species called as atka
mackerel, Pleurogrammus monopterygiu, is known to be planktivore
(Orlov, 1997). The populations distributed off Amchitca Island feed
on crustacean plankton such as hyperiid amphipods, calanoid
copepods, planktonic larvaceans (Simenstad et al., 1977), The
most important food source of the populations off Aleutian Islands
was euphausiids, while benthic crustaceans, chaetognaths, tunicates
were also found in the guts (Yang, 1996; 1999).

Juveniles

adults

Fig. 3: Size range of Euphausia pacifica in the gut of Pleurogrammus

azonus and ambient water column in June 2003

respectively), while amphipods (F = 36.67% and 16.17%) and

other fishes (F = 33.33 % and 45.80%) were also often observed.

On

The fishes showed great preference to euphausiids, even

though they can feed on much larger squids (60mm - 80mm
approximately) or fishes. The most of fishes or some euphausiid
samples found in the gut of Dasycottus steiger were much digested
and not adequate to measure body lengths and even number of
individuals, while compound eyes or prey fish-bone were often
found (Fig. 2). Cannibalism of D. steiger was also observed in an
individual in June 2003. On the other hand, Pleurogrammus azonus
was preferred larger euphausiids which size range was 16.9 - 28.4 mm,
while the range of euphausiids distributed in the ambient water
column was much broader according to life stages from nauplius to
adults (Fig. 3).
Pleurogrammus azonus is distributed widely in Northwest
Pacific from Primorskii Krai in Russia, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Kuril
Islands to Ibaraki Prefecture and Tsushima in Japan to the Yellow

The results of this study that feeding of Pleurogrammus

azonus concentrated to Euphausia pacifica may lead to several
possible explanations. The investigated fishes were all
demersal, and may encounter the near-bottom aggregation of
euphausiids. However, we have no information about feeding
time and vertical diel movement of the fishes and the fish
captures were made from daytime to early morning of next
day. Thus, there is another possibility that P. azonus fed on the
euphausids in mesopelagic or epipelagic zone at night where
dense Deep Scattering Layers (DSLs) of ecosounder were
recorded by euphausiid population (Hwang et al., 2005).
Regardless whether the feeding occurred at near-bottom or
not, the euphausiids were the most preferable food item, and
their abundance may provide so enough amounts that other
food items were little chosen. Size preference of P. azonus
may be explained that euphausiid adults formed aggregation
more nearer to bottom than larvae, otherwise size-selective
Journal of Environmental Biology

July, 2008

474

Chae et al.

Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Nuclear R & D Program of
MoST (Ministry of Science and Technology), Prevention of bioimpingement against power plant intake (PN52700). We thank
Captain M. S. Yoon, the skipper of a fishing boat, Wonyoung-Ho,
and Mr J. S. Kim in Korea Institute of Coastal Ecology for their help
in sampling at sea. We also thank Dr J.G. Myoung for his
encouragement and comments on this publication.
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predation of the fish on euphausiid prey occurred for their

optimal energy usage, even though they could encounter prey
animals of broad range in size.

Journal of Environmental Biology

July, 2008