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The trematodes of Genus Nasitrema are the most common infection in the heads of small odontocetes. Five species of Nasitrema have been described in Asia. But those parasites has been not surveyed in the East Sea of Korean peninsula. There are no evidence of pathology associated with Nasitrema attenuate. To determine the infection ratio of N. attenuata in the dolphin, it was surveyed 9 long-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus capensis, caught incidentally from Samcheok to Pohang, East Sea, Korea. Five males and four females, estimated to be between 1 to 10 years old, were examined. The quantity of N. attenuata harvested by aspiration from pterygoid sinuses ranged from 10 to 100 with a 100% (9/9) infection with older dolphins exhibiting higher parasite counts. The body of trematoda was elongated with tegumental patches resembling the leaves of lilies and oral sucker located ventrally at the anterior terminal. Esophagus was absent and intestinal bifurcation arose immediately from the posterior of pharynx. The undulated intestinal caeca transversed the entire body and terminated at the posterior extremity of the worm. The genital pore opened anterior to the ventral sucker. This report confirms the prevalence and morphology of N. attenuata in the dolphins from the East Sea, Korea.

The Sixteenth Meeting of the Conferences of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was held in March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, listed five shark species and one genus, and uplisted one sawfish species. All new species listings will be come into force of the eighteen months delay, on the fourteenth of September, 2014. The purpose of the delay is to support the preparation of the domestic measures on shark trade by the parties, as there has been no previous experience in trading the commercially exploited aquatic species in the CITES. The CITES Secretary-General has visited several potential shark trade countries to encourage and facilitate the implementation of the new CITES listings. The newly listed sharks have been caught as a target or non-target species by Korean distant water fisheries and introduced into Korea. So the establishment or change of the domestic laws, regulations, and measures for the implementation of the new CITES species must be prepared before the effective entry date. This paper is prepared to assess the effects of the trade of the CITES listed shark species, and to suggest effective government service measures for the management of Korean distant water fisheries. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) is the general Management Authority of the CITES, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is in charge of the medical trade of CITES listed species in Korea. By law, all imported medicines and medical materials must be inspected by the MFDS during the customs examination; this kind of authority sharing is reasonable and effective way of providing government service. Similarly, the designation of new CITES Management Authority for the trade of commercially exploited aquatic CITES species is critical and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), which is now in charge of the trade of fisheries products, is the most appropriate governing body for this purpose in Korea. The revision of the National Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks, initially submitted to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2011 as a practical guideline for shark conservation in all Korean fisheries, could be a effective measure to achieve unification of conservation of endangered species and sustainable use of fisheries stocks. The proper CITES measures for the trade of listed species, such as the establishment of the documenting system for Non-detriment Findings, domestic measures suitable for the “Introduction from the Sea” clause, species specific Harmonized System Codes for the customs service, and an effective shark catch data reporting system should be in place prior to the fourteenth of September 2014.

상괭이(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)는 쇠돌고래과(Family Phocoenidae)에 속하는 소형 돌고래로 다른 돌고래류와 달리 등지느러미가 없고 둥근 머리를 가지고 있다(Jefferson et al., 2008). 분포지역은 페르시아와 일본까지 아시아에만 분포하며 최근 연구를 통해, 중국 중남부를 기준으로 아시아 서부 지역 상괭이와 동부 지역 상괭이가 종 수준으로 다르다는 것이 밝혀 졌다(Wang et al., 2008). 상괭이는 멸종위기동식물 국제거래 에 관한 협약(CITES)의 부속서 1에 등재되어 상업적인 거래가 금지된 보호 종이다(CITES, 2014). Park et al. (2007)은 한반 도 서해 연안에 약 36,000마리의 상괭이가 서식하고 있는 것으 로 추정하여 서해 연안이 상괭이의 최대서식지임이 밝혀졌다. 새만금 방조제는 이 서해안에 건설된 세계 최장 방조제(33.9 km)로 전라북도 군산에서 신시도를 거쳐 부안을 연결하였으며 두 개의 하천에 유입되는 담수를 배출하고 해수를 순환시키기 위한 두 개의 갑문을 가지고 있다. 새만금 방조제는2006년에 최종 물막이 공사가 끝났다. 물막이 공사가 끝나고 4년이 지난 2011년 2월, 새만금 방조제 호 안에서 대량 폐사한 상괭이가 발 견되면서 새만금 방조제 호 안에 상괭이가 서식한다는 사실이 처음으로 밝혀졌다 (Hankookilbo, 2011). Park et al. (2012)은 이상 저온으로 새만금호의 수면이 얼어서 호 안의 상괭이 249 새만금호의 상괭이 대량 폐사 후 상괭이(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) 재출현과 분포 경향 박겸준*·이승용·안용락·김현우·안두해·김두남·김영혜

Vessel-based sighting surveys for cetaceans have been conducted in Korean waters since 2000. The supporting data estimate the abundance of finless porpoises along the west coast of Korea; however, they are insufficient because of the coverage and frequency of the surveys. A preliminary aerial survey was conducted in 2011, and the results were assessed with respect to a sighting survey operated by a research vessel in order to compare effectiveness and potentiality. A total of 110.00 nautical miles of effective efforts were made with three sightings under Beaufort scale 4 in the aerial survey, while the vessel-operated survey covered 403.38 nautical miles over 7 days without any sightings under Beaufort scale 4. The standard deviation of the altitude in this survey was 22.7 m, which was significantly higher than that of the referenced study of 4.3 m.

Enterococcus faecium was isolated from the internal organs of the rough-toothed dolphine, Steno bredanensis which was stranded at Jeju island. E. faecium were isolated from the liver, spleen, kidney, heart and lung up to cfu/g. No significant differences of bacterial enzyme activities between E. faecium KCCM 12118 and the isolates were found. Biochemical constellation was the same or similar to that of E. faecium KCCM 12118 according to API20 strep. All isolates had the multi-drug resistance to 6 antibiotics by an agar disk diffusion method but these isolates didn`t have resistance to chloramphenicol and vancomycin.

A total of 116 finless porpoises, Neophocaena asiaeorientalis, were collected in the Yellow Sea off Korea. About 111 specimens were incidentally caught by stow nets on anchors from March to June 2010, and five were stranded in February 2011. Age was determined by counting dentinal growth layer groups (GLGs) in thin-sectioned teeth, and sexual maturity rating (SMR) was classified by investigating ovaries and testis macroscopically and microscopically. Immature females were ranged 1–4 years old and 92.6–141.2 cm in total body length (TBL), pubertal ones were all 5 years old and 125.4–136.0 cm, and mature ones ranged 5–19 years old and 131.6–155.2 cm. Age at attainment of sexual maturity of females was 4–5 years old. Parturition season estimated based on TBL of eight fetuses was from April to August with a peak in April to May. The first age at parturition was 5 years old. Among 62 males, immature males were 1–4 years old and 87.9–154.6 cm, pubertal ones were 3–5 years old and 121.5–134.5 cm, and mature ones...

The Fraser’s dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei has a pantropical distribution. Only several stranding or catch data were available from Japan and Taiwan in the north-west Pacific region. An adult female L. hosei stranded in Jeju-do, Korea. The specimen was identified by external features and skull measurements. It showed the same external appearance ratio and range in the number of teeth with L. hosei former described. The cranial measurements also well corresponded to condylobasal length proportions given in the previous descriptions of the holotype. This is the first record of the species in Korean waters. We report the information on external and osteological characters of the specimen.

On 3 February 2011, a mass mortality of finless porpoises Neophocaena asiaeorientalis occurred at a dike of the Saemangeum Sea dike. A total of 249 carcasses were collected; these had been stranded by a sea dike and had floated into the lake formed by the dike. Eight bodies were measured, and four of these were dissected to analyze stomach contents. The blubber thicknesses of five bodies were compared with those of caught finless porpoises in the Yellow Sea from 2010. Finless porpoises at the Saemangeum Sea dike exhibited better nutritive conditions than finless porpoises in the Yellow Sea. Air temperature in January 2011 was lower than the prior 5-year average (P had been recorded, and the majority of the dike lake had frozen over. The mass mortality of finless porpoises may have been caused by these unusually low temperatures.

In the late 1970s, the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute (NFRDI) started cetacean research to submit the Korean whale catch record to the International Whaling Commission. This continued until the moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. The NFRDI resumed cetacean research with a pilot whale sighting survey in 1999. Subsequently, the NFRDI has conducted 53 cetacean sighting surveys within the Korean exclusive economic zone between 2000 and 2010. The surveys took a total of 760 days and cruising for 23,866 nautical miles. The finless porpoise Neophocaena asiaeorientalis was sighted most frequently (735 times), followed by the minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata (396 times), the long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis (102 times), and the Pacific white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens (27 times). Minke whales were distributed in the Yellow Sea and coastal area of the East Sea from spring to fall. Pacific white-sided dolphin sightings were restricted to the middle and upper coastal areas of the East Sea in summer. Common dolphins were sighted from east of the southern coast to the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula from spring to fall. Finless porpoise occurred in all Korean coastal areas, except the middle and upper eastern coast.

Background Whales have captivated the human imagination for millennia. These incredible cetaceans are the only mammals that have adapted to life in the open oceans and have been a source of human food, fuel and tools around the globe. The transition from land to water has led to various aquatic specializations related to hairless skin and ability to regulate their body temperature in cold water. Results We present four common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) genomes with depth of ×13 ~ ×17 coverage and perform resequencing technology without a reference sequence. Our results indicated the time to the most recent common ancestors of common minke whales to be about 2.3574 (95% HPD, 1.1521 – 3.9212) million years ago. Further, we found that genes associated with epilation and tooth-development showed signatures of positive selection, supporting the morphological uniqueness of whales. Conclusions This whole-genome sequencing offers a chance to better understand the evolutionary journey of one of the largest mammals on earth. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1213-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.