Abstract

The blotched nerite Nerita albicilla (Linnaeus, 1758) is widely distributed in intertidal areas of the Indo-Pacific. Interestingly, it is known that they inhabit in the southernmost region of Jeju Island, Korean Peninsula. Recently, it has been proposed that N. albicilla can be divided into two different species based on COI sequences. Herein, we describe the new species, N. originalis Hong, Park & Hwang, sp. nov., in Korea and Thailand. In addition to, we conduct the morphometric analysis between the two nerite species based on nine morphological characteristics of shells. The results show that there are no significant morphological differences of the shells between the two species. However, under SEM, we find a different morphological characteristic (lateral teeth on radula). Nerita albicilla has an inflection point close to a V-shape at the base in the lateral tooth, whereas N. originalis Hong, Park & Hwang, sp. nov. has a gentle inflection point. Through further study, we need to examine much more samples and more morphological characteristics to seek for significant morphological differences between the two species.