Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (한국수산과학회지)

The Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science (한국수산과학회)
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Molecular and Morphological Identification of a Muraenichthys gymnopterus (Ophichthidae: Anguilliformes) Leptocephalus Collected on Jeju island, Korea

한국 제주도에서 채집된 갯물뱀(뱀장어목: 바다뱀과) 엽상자어(Leptocephalus)의 형태 및 분자동정

  • Ji, Hwan-Sung (Department of Marine Biology, Pukyong National University) ;
  • Kim, Jin-Koo (Department of Marine Biology, Pukyong National University)
  • 지환성 (부경대학교 자원생물학과) ;
  • 김진구 (부경대학교 자원생물학과)
  • Received : 2012.04.25
  • Accepted : 2012.10.17
  • Published : 2012.10.31
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Abstract

One leptocephalus (TL 59.9 mm) from the family Ophichthidae collected from Jeju Island, Korea, was identified using morphological and molecular methods. Our ophichthid leptocephalus was identified as belonging to the genus Muraenichthys based on morphological characters: 157 myomeres; the origin of the dorsal fin located a little in front of the anus; a distinct melanophore present on the opercle; and six gut swellings present. An analysis of 886 base pairs of the 12S rRNA mtDNA sequences showed that our leptocephalus must be Muraenichthys gymnopterus, because its sequences were concordant with those of an adult M. gymnopterus (d=0.001) and next to those of Muraenichthys sp. leptocephalus (d=0.034). Here, we are the first to describe the morphological characteristics of the M. gymnopterus leptocephalus.

Keywords

References

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