Abstract

Study on characteristics of the molluscan community structure and relationship between the structure and environmental variables in the abyssal plain of the East Sea was carried out for 5 years, starting from 2009 until the end of 2015 except 2010 and 2011. The water depth at the study site is approximately 1,600 m at minimum, and maximum depth of 2,000 m and a total of 16 molluscan species including Aplacophora, Gastropoda and Bivalvia were observed. Species with the highest biomass was Thyasira tokunagai, followed by Yoldiella philippiana which were observed at 9 sampling stations every year. Among 4 sampling stations having various depths (1,600/ 1,700/ 1,800/ 2,000 m), the highest diversity for species was observed at water depths of 1,600 m and 1,700 m, but found the lowest at 1,800 m. Both abundance and biomass were found to be negative correlations with water depth (p < 0.05), however, showed a positive correlation with the concentrations of organic matters (p < 0.01, p < 0.05). However, it is interesting to note that both Thyasira tokunagai (biomass, 82.6%; abundance, 44.1%) and Yoldiella philippiana (biomass, 15.9%; abundance, 4.7%) did not show distinctive correlations with water depth as well as concentrations of organic matters (p > 0.05). Therefore, it could be concluded that community structure of both Thyasira tokunagai and Yoldiella philippiana did not appear to be affected by water depth and concentrations of organic matters but geographical characteristics.