Genetic diversity and distribution of edible scytosiphonacean algae from Ulleungdo Island, Korea

Abstract

Despite the abundance of seaweeds from Ulleungdo Island, genetic diversity and distribution of edible brown algae from the island remain unstudied. We analyzed mitochondrial cox3 sequences from 86 specimens collected in the island and from the nearby Korean Peninsula. Our cox3 phylogeny for the first time confirmed the occurrence of fives species from Ulleungdo Island; Petalonia binghamiae, P. fascia, Planosiphon zosterifolius, and two cryptic species previously identified as Scytosiphon lomentaria. P. binghamiae was relatively homogeneous with three haplotypes. P. fascia comprised four haplotypes, which were grouped into two genetic lineages. S. lomentaria was heterogeneous with nine haplotypes and was divided into two cryptic species; one species clustered with taxa from cold waters while the other clustered with taxa from temperate and cold waters. Low genetic diversity in P. binghamiae while high genetic diversity in S. lomentaria from Ulleungdo Island are comparable to patterns observed from other species from the Korean peninsula. Ulleungdo Island, although small in size, is an ideal field laboratory to investigate genetic diversity and distributions of economic marine algae.