The family Trigonalyidae Cresson, 1887, is a small group of parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Apocrita) comprising around 150 species worldwide. Among them, the genus Taeniogonalos Schulz, 1906 is the richest in species and the most widely distributed. Four species, namely T. fasciata, T. mongolica, T. subtruncata and T. tricolor, were recorded from the Korean Peninsula. The genus is studied here on the basis of a larger collection of material from South Korea. Six species of Taeniogonalos are recognized, including three species that are newly recorded: T. formosana, T. sauteri and T. taihorina. The published record of T. mongolica in Korea currently seems groundless, and this species should be excluded from the Korean fauna. A key to species identification is provided, with illustrations and description of each species. The hitherto unknown male of T. sauteri is described. We also present new biological data on T. sauteri and T. formosana, including the record of a new family of Diptera as secondary hosts for the family.
In the course of our survey of microbial diversity, a total of seven basidiomycetous yeast strains were isolated from flowers sampled across the four provinces of the Republic of Korea, of which two strains were identified as an unrecorded species. Comparative analysis was conducted for identification of strains using the D1/D2 region of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene sequences, observation of cell morphologies, and carbon assimilation tests. Seven strains were classified within the phylum Basidiomycota. Two unrecorded strains, JRP1-10 (KACC 410703) and KC-1 (KACC 410704), were identified as Vishniacozyma pseudocarnescens, belonging to the family Bulleribasidiaceae, order Tremellales, class Tremellomycetes. Two strains had ellipsoidal-shaped and monopolar budding cells and smooth and cream-colored colonies after cultivation at 25℃ for 3 days. Here, we present the morphological and biochemical characteristics of the unrecorded yeast species, Vishniacozyma pseudocarnescens, in the Republic of Korea.
Various samples were collected from Korean islands in order to obtain unrecorded bacterial species in 2023. After aerobically incubating on marine agar and Reasoner’s 2A agar, approximately 1,200 bacterial strains were isolated and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequences. A total of 36 strains showed ≥98.7% sequence similarity to previously published and validated bacterial species. However, these strains have not previously been reported in the Republic of Korea, indicating that they belong to Korean unrecorded bacterial species. The unrecorded bacterial species were assigned to the classes Actinomycetes, Bacilli, Bacteroidia, Flavobacteriia, Sphingobacteriia, Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria. The information we obtained by examining the strains includes details of the Gram reactions, colony and cell morphology, biochemical characteristics, and phylogenetic positions of the unrecorded species.
Rhyssemus Mulsant, 1842, represents one of the largest genera in the tribe Psammodiini, comprising approximately 170 species to date. This group is nearly cosmopolitan, excluding the Neotropical region, with 59 species recorded in the Palearctic region. On the Korean Peninsula, only one species, Rhyssemus koreanus Stebnicka, 1980 was recorded from North Korea. In this study, the genus Rhyssemus is recorded for the first time with a newly recorded species Rhyssemus inscitus (Walker, 1858) from South Korea. Adult specimens were collected from the costal sand dunes in Taean-gun and Jeju island. We herein provide a diagnosis, illustrations of morphological characters, and habitat information. Partial mitochondrial COI sequences of the species are also provided for DNA barcoding.
Various samples from island and coastal ecosystems in South Korea were investigated to discover unrecorded bacterial species. Soils from these areas, along with seawater samples, were plated on marine agar and R2A agar (containing 3% sea salt). From these samples, approximately 1,070 bacterial strains were isolated as single colonies and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequences. A total of 20 strains, which exhibited at least 98.7% similarity in their 16S rRNA gene sequences to those of validly published bacterial species not yet reported in Korea, were identified as unrecorded bacterial species. These strains belonged to three phyla, six classes, 10 orders, 14 families, and 16 genera. These were assigned as follows: Thioclava, Breoghania, Acidovorax, Erythrobacter, Paracoccus, Jiella, Aurantimonas, and Qipengyuania within the class Alphaproteobacteria; Pseudomonas, Cobetia, and Rheinheimera within the class Gammaproteobacteria; Aequorivita, Leeuwenhoekiella, and Polaribacter within the class Flavobacteriia; Algoriphagus within the class Cytophagia; and Microbacterium within the class Actinobacteria. The unreported species underwent further taxonomic characterization, which included assessments of Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, biochemical and phylogenetic characteristics.
Bacterial communities residing on islands have a significant impact on the functioning and establishment of a unique isolated ecosystem. Notwithstanding, systematic research on the indigenous microbial resources of domestic islands has been lacking. In order to understand the biodiversity and potential bioresources, we conducted sampling in 2023 from coastal waters from various islands off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, including Baengnyeongdo, Daebudo, Deokjeokdo, Jangbongdo, Yeonpyeongdo Islands, along with Somaemuldo Island along the south coast. The coastal seawater samples were used to unearth microbial resources through the standard dilution plating. In total, approximately 1,600 bacterial strains were isolated from the samples as single colonies and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. Eighteen strains, exhibiting ≥98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to bacterial species with validly published names but not previously reported in Korea, were categorized as unrecorded bacterial species in Korea. These unrecorded bacterial strains displayed phylogenetic diversity, representing three phyla, four classes, 9 orders, 13 families, and 18 genera. The unrecorded species were assigned to the classes Alphaproteobacteria (Aliiroseovarius, Kiloniella, Maritalea, Palleronia, and Roseobacter), Gammaproteobacteria (Aliamphritea, Aliivibrio, Enterovibrio, Francisella, Leucothrix, Pseudoalteromonas, Psychrobium, Shewanella, and Vibrio), Flavobacteriia (Aquimarina, Pseudofulvibacter, and Tenacibaculum), and Verrucomicrobiae (Roseibacillus). This study presents comprehensive descriptions of the taxonomic attributes of these unrecorded species, covering morphology, biochemistry, and phylogenetic position.
The beetle family Georissidae, represented by Georissus kurosawai Nakane, is identified for the first time in Korea. Worldwide, the family Georissidae Laporte contains 83 described species in the only genus Georissus Latreille. This beetles usually inhabits sandy or muddy banks of streams, rivers, and standing water, and some species live in tidal flats and leaf litter. Mostly, adults are covered by a layer of mud or sand grains dorsally and are attracted to light. They are characterized by the combination of the following characters: prosternum reduced, procoxae enlarged, metacoxae separate, ventral hydrofuge pubescence absent, elytra punctatostriate and without scutellary stria, metathoracic anepisterna concealed, and sternite III enlarged. Habitus and aedeagus photograph, mtDNA sequence, and habitat information are provided.
The genus Japanolaccophilus Satô in small groups belonging to the subfamily Laccophilinae of the family Dytiscidae. However, members of this group have not been recorded in the Korea. The genus Japanolaccophilus Satô is characterized by the following features: suture between elytron and epipleuron visible dorsally, posterior angles of pronotum rounded, posterior margin of pronotum nearly straight, and posterior part of prosternal process triangula and with single tip in middle. We collected specimens from the edge of Osip Stream and identified the species of Japanolaccophilus niponensis (Kamiya, 1939) for the first time based on male genitalia. A habitus photograph, a description, illustrations of the aedeagus and information of habitat are provided.
The filamentous freshwater red alga Compsopogon caeruleus (Compsopogonophyceae, Compsopogonaceae, Rhodophyta) occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of worldwide. This species has been reported from Asia, America, Africa, Europe and Oceania, and the worldwide distribution of Compsopogon caeruleus is in variable water habitats. Several morphospecies of the genus Compsopogon had been recorded, but recent molecular phylogenetic analyses with worldwide sampling identified a monospecific genus, C. caeruleus. In the present study, we first report a freshwater red alga Compsopogon caeruleus from Korea. We identified Compsopogon caeruleus in an urban river in Yongin City, and analyzed its morphological and genetic characteristics. Nuclear 18S rDNA, plastidal rbcL gene and mitochondrial cox1 gene sequences isolated from Korean Compsopogon caeruleus showed high sequences similarity with Compsopogon caeruleus from worldwide (98.6-100% (18S rDNA), 99-100% (rbcL) and 97.7-100% (cox1)). These sequences similarities support the identification of a red alga found in Korea as Compsopogon caeruleus. This new geographical report provides the useful information for understanding the distribution and habitat range of Compsopogon caeruleus especially concerning urban freshwater environments.
A new species of the canuellid genus Brianola Monard, 1926 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) was collected during a meiofauna survey in July 2021 at the intertidal muddy sand of Phuket Island, Thailand. Currently, there are only eight known species of Brianola: B. stebleri, B. exigua, B. curvirostris, B. elegans, B. sydneyensis, B. vangoethemi, B. hamondi, and B. haliensis. Thus, the Brianola rawaiensis sp. nov. from Thailand is the ninth species of the genus. The new species, Brianola rawaiensis is most closely related to B. haliensis by sharing a four-segmented antennule in females and five-segmented antennule in males, eight-segmented antennary exopod and three-segmented antennary endopod, and P1 exp-3 with 5 spines/setae. However, B. rawaiensis sp. nov. is different from B. haliensis by having: 1) P1 exp-1 with 1 outer pinnate spine, 2) P1 exp-2 with inner plumose seta, 3) P2 exp-3 with 3 setae/spines, 4) P2 enp-1 with one inner plumose seta, 5) P4 enp-1 with inner seta. Sexual dimorphism is expressed in the antennule and segmentation of the urosome. Ovigerous female bearing one egg sac with 20 eggs.