A Newly Recorded Basket Star of Genus Gorgonocephalus (Ophiuroidea: Euryalida: Gorgonocephalidae) from the East Sea, Korea

• Main Authors: Kim, Donghwan, Shin, Sook
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Society of Systematic Zoology 2015-10-01
• Series: Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
• Subjects: Gorgonocephalus arcticus; taxonomy; molecular phylogenetic analyses; mitochondrial COI gene
• Online Access: http://www.kpubs.org/article/articleMain.kpubs?articleANo=DMBRBT_2015_v31n4_311

Euryalid specimens were collected from Gonghyeonjin and Daejin, Gangwon-do in the East Sea, Korea at a depth of 250-300 m by fishing nets on November 2013 and August 2014. They were identified as Gorgonocephalus arcticus Leach, 1819 belonging to family Gorgonocephalidae of order Euryalida, which was new to the Korean fauna. Nucleotide sequences of partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (mt-COI) gene, which was 569 bp in length, were compared among four Gorgonocephalus species, and were subsequently employed to reconstruct phylogenetic trees using the MP, ML, and BI methods. As a result, no sequence difference was found between the G. arcticus mt-COI gene sequences from Korea and Canada, and the two made a strong monophyletic group. With the newly recorded G. arcticus in Korea, in total, four Gorgonocephalus species have been reported in Korea.