• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 1997

Two species of Sphyrna lewini (Griffith and Smith, 1834) and Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) belonging to the Elasmobranchii were collected form the first time from the western coast of Korea. S. lewini is similar to S. zygaena, but differs in some morphological characters: a prominent median indentation on anterior margin of head and free rear tip of second dorsal nearly reaching upper caudal origin. a. vulpinus differs from A. pelagicus in having labial furrows, long terminal lobe and white ventral coloration extending above the pectoral fin bases.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2015

A terebellid polychaete identified as Pista shizugawaensis Nishi and Tanaka, 2006, whose species validity has been doubted, is newly reported from the southwest coast of Korea. Korean materials of the present study have several characteristics that agree well with the original description of P. shizugawaensis as follows: two pairs of branchiae on the 2nd and 3rd segments have tufts composed of many dichotomously branched filaments; the nephridial papillae are present on the 6th and 7th segments; the uncini on the anterior and middle thoracic segments possess only long-handled shafts while those on the posterior ones have additional short-handled shafts or lacking shafts; the notosetae are broadly or narrowly winged capillary. The authors examined the taxonomic value of the presence of lateral lobes on the 5th and 6th segments, which has been known as a key characteristic feature of P. shizugawaensis in the classification of Pista species. In the present study, several characteristics such as the shape of notosetae, uncinial shafts in the thoracic segments, and the presence of thin narrow lateral lobes on the 4th segment are suggested as the specific characteristics that help to distinguish P. shizugawaensis from its congeners. A key to Pista species from Korean waters is also provided.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.182-190
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• 2015

Two heterotrichid ciliates, Climacostomum virens (Ehrenberg, 1838) Stein, 1859 from brackish water and freshwater, and Fabrea salina Henneguy, 1890 from a solar saltern, were collected in Korea. They are novelly investigated in Korea by means of live observation, protargol staining and nuclear small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequencing. Climacostomum virens is characterized by pouch-like body shape, body length of $200-370{\mu}m$ in vivo, conspicuous cytopharyngeal tube, macronuclei ribbon-like shape, and one to four in number, with or without symbiont algae in cytoplasm, 34-66 somatic kineties, 67-113 adoral zone of membranelles, 8-42 peristomial kineties, 24-37 apical membranelles. SSU rDNA sequence size is 1,591 bp and GC contents 48.52%. Fabrea salina is also characterized by scoop-like body shape with proboscis, body length of $190-240{\mu}m$ in vivo, one to two rod-shaped macronuclei, oval micronuclei, grayish green cortical granules, 104-186 somatic kineties, 4-8 preoral kineties, 7-19 peristomial kineties and fragmented paroral membrane. SSU rDNA sequence size is 1,598 bp and GC contents 47.50%.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.176-181
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• 2015

Biodiversity is plummeting worldwide, and the major causes of such decline include habitat degradation and climate change. While cities do contribute to the negative impact to the environment, they can also serve as strategic centres for conservation programs. Sites qualifying as biogeographic islands within metropolitan Seoul were studied for the occurrence of two hylid species: the endangered Hyla suweonensis and the abundant H. japonica. This study demonstrates that neither habitat diversity nor surface area, but solely the occurrence of aggregated rice paddies is a requisite for H. suweonensis, hypothetically due to its strict breeding requirements. On the contrary, H. japonica occurrence was not affected by any of these factors, and all types of habitats studied were adequate for this species. The presence of an endangered species within the boundaries of one of the most populated metropolises suggests a strong natural resilience, which should be enhanced with appropriate actions. We emphasize that the management plans therein can, and should, be used as the first step in the conservation of H. suweonensis in metropolitan Seoul.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.327-332
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• 2008

Soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea (Verrill, 1864) is a conspicuous species dominating shallow sea waters of Jejudo Island, Korea. Recently its whole mitochondrial genome sequencing was completed by us and the sequence information provided an opportunity to test the age of Octocorallia and time of evolutionary separation between some representative orders of the subclass Octocorallia. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 13 mitochondrial protein encoding genes revealed a polyphyletic relationship among octocorallians representing two orders (Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea) and four families (Alcyoniidae, Nephtheidae, Briareidae, and Gorgoniidae). Estimates of divergence times among octocorallians indicate that the first splitting might occur around end of or after Cretaceous period (50-79 million years ago (Ma)). The age is relatively young compared to the long history of stony sea corals (>240 Ma). Taken together our result suggests a possible relatively recent radiating evolution at least in the order Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea. Molecular dating and phylogenetic analysis based on much broader taxon sampling and many genes might give an insight into this interesting hypothesis.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.248-259
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• 2014

This paper describes eight new species of the genus Coscinoderma from Chuuk Island, the Federated States of Micronesia. This genus is characterized by very fine, meandering uncored secondary fibres. All the new Coscinoderma species are compared with eight other valid species from tropical regions. Coscinoderma folium n. sp. is characterized by its large thickly foliate shape, and cored primary fibres are easily found between secondary fibres in choanosome. Coscinoderma lacium n. sp. differs in having round conules and no cored primary fibres. Coscinoderma cavernosa n. sp. is distinguished from other species by its cavernous shape and long sharp conules. Coscinoderma wenoa n. sp. is characterized by long conules and primary fibres. Coscinoderma mappula n. sp. differs in having a thick sand crust in the choanosome. Coscinoderma bakusi n. sp. is characterized by having several oscules at the top of the sponge and color changed grey to dark brown in alcohol. Coscinoderma pollax n. sp. is characterized by having a small thumb shape. Coscinoderma truki n. sp. similar to C. pollax in shape but differs in cored primary fibres with many spicules.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2012

The larvae of Chaoborus are widely distributed in lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. These omnivorous Chaoborus larvae are crucial predators and play a role in structuring zooplankton communities, especially for small-sized prey. Larvae of Chaoborus are commonly known to produce predator-induced polyphenism in Daphnia sp. Nevertheless, their taxonomy and molecular phylogeny are very poorly understood. As a fundamental study for understanding the role of Chaoborus in predator-prey interactions in a freshwater ecosystem, the molecular identification and phylogenetic relationship of Chaoborus were analyzed in this study. A molecular comparison based on partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) between species in Chaoborus was carried out for the identification of Chaoborus larvae collected from 2 localities in Korea. According to the results, the Chaoborus species examined here was identified as C. flavicans, which is a lake-dwelling species. Furthermore, partial mitochondrial genome including COI, COII, ATP6, ATP8, COIII, and ND3 were also newly sequenced from the species and concatenated 5 gene sequences excluding ATP8 with another 9 dipteran species were compared to examine phylogenetic relationships of C. flavicans. The results suggested that Chaoborus was more related to the Ceratopogonidae than to the Culicidae. Further analysis based on complete mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear gene sequences will provide a more robust validation of the phylogenetic relationships of Chaoborus within dipteran lineages.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2012

Two Spirostomum species collected from freshwater in Korea were identified as S. caudatum (Muller, 1786) and S. teres (Claparede and Lachmann, 1858). They are recorded for the first time in Korea. The description was based on the observation of living specimens and protargol impregnated specimens. Diagnostics of these species are as follows. Spirostomum caudatum: body size $400-450{\times}20-30\;{\mu}m$ in vivo, shaped long and slender with a tapered posterior part, highly contractile; macronucleus ellipsoid; adoral zone of membranelles occupied 30% of body length; somatic kineties 14-22 in number. Spirostomum teres: body size $240-460{\times}25-40\;{\mu}m$ in vivo, shaped long and slender with a flattened posterior end, highly contractile; cortical granules arranged in 2-3 rows; adoral zone of membranelles occupied 50% of body length; somatic kineties 20-30 in number; macronucleus ellipsoid; micronuclei 2-3 in number. Spirostomum caudatum and S. teres are the most similar congeners, but they are different in the posterior part of body (tail-like posterior part vs. flattened posterior end), length of adoral zone of membranelles in body length (1/3 vs. 1/2), and the number of somatic kineties (14-22 vs. 20-30). These populations match with European populations in morphological characters.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2012

Two urostylid ciliates, Anteholosticha pulchra (Kahl, 1932) Berger, 2003 and Metaurostylopsis struederkypkeae Shao et al., 2008, new to Korea, were collected from the Yellow Sea and the East Sea, Korea, respectively. They were identified based on live observation and protargol impregnation. Taxonomical characters of A. pulchra are as follows: $190-300{\times}30-55\;{\mu}m$ size in vivo; contractile vacuole located on the left side of the posterior 1/4 of the cell; spherical-reddish granules at cirral bases and around dorsal bristles, somewhat sparsely distributed throughout the cell surface; four frontal and two frontoterminal cirri; four dorsal kineties; caudal cirri absent. Metaurostylopsis struederkypkeae is characterized as follows: $80-110{\times}40-50\;{\mu}m$ size in vivo; caudal cirri absent; two types of cortical granules: type 1, yellow-green arranged along the ventral cirral rows and dorsal kineties; type 2, small and reddish, with an irregular arrangement; four frontal, four to eight frontoterminal, and two to six transverse cirri; five to seven left and three to five right marginal rows. Sequences of small subunit ribosomal DNA were determined from both species, and pairwise distances with their relatives were analyzed.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2012

Many members of xanthid crabs have the black coloured fingers and are found easily in the intertidal or subtidal zone. Three xanthids, $Danielea$ $noelensis$ (Ward, 1934), $Etisus$ $anaglyptus$ H. Milne Edwards, 1834, and $Gaillardiellus$ $rueppelli$ (Krauss, 1843), are newly reported from Korean waters as a result of continuous taxonomic studies on crabs. Of these, the present specimen of $D.$ $noelensis$ has rather projecting angle on the antero-external border of the merus of the third maxilliped differed from that of the original description. The genus $Danielea$ Ng and Clark, 2003 and the genus $Etisus$ H. Milne Edwards, 1834 are also reported first time from Korean fauna. Their descriptions are provided with illustrations. Korean Xanthoidea now consists of 28 species belonging to 24 genera.