Concluding remarks on the joint survey of macrobenthic fauna on Suncheon Tidal Flats by the participants of “Korea and Japan Joint Symposium on Biology of Tidal Flats 2009”

Abstract

As a social activity in “Korea and Japan Joint Symposium on Biology of Tidal Flats 2009” held in Sucheon, Jeollanam-do, the southern part of South Korea, most of the participants to the symposium joined the surveys with the purpose of making a list of macrobenthic fauna that occur on Suncheon Bay Tidal Flats with approximately 1,200 ha in total area between June 21 and 23, 2009. In this survey, sixteen species of bivalves, twenty species of gastropods, one species of chiton, fourteen species of polychaetes, eight species of crabs, and three species of other animals were collected, and identified by the participants. Among these sixty-one species, two species of macrobenthic invertebrate animals including gastropod, Ellobium chinense, and crab, Sesarmops intermedius, are listed in the latest Red List of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea, and eight species of them including five species of potamidid gastropods are listed in that of the Ministry of Environment, Japan. The results of this survey indicate that the ecosystem on the tidal flats in Suncheon Bay are still healthy, and preserved almost in their original conditions, due to the serious efforts of the people in Suncheon City and the municipal authorities.