Research Article |
Corresponding author: Gi-Sik Min ( mingisik@inha.ac.kr ) Academic editor: Saskia Brix
© 2018 Ji-Hun Song, Gi-Sik Min.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Song J-H, Min G-S (2018) First records of Gnathia Leach, 1814 and Tachaea Schioedte & Meinert, 1879 from South Korea, with descriptions of two new species (Isopoda, Cymothoida, Cymothooidea). ZooKeys 787: 17-35. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.787.26291
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Two new species of cymothoid isopods, Gnathia koreana sp. n. and Tachaea koreaensis sp. n., are described from South Korea. The genera Gnathia Leach, 1814 and Tachaea Schioedte & Meinert, 1879 are recorded for the first time in South Korea. Gnathia koreana sp. n. is distinguished from its congeners by having the smooth dorsal surface of the pereon, the strongly ridged unornamented paraocular ornamentation, the strong bifid mediofrontal process, and the serrated superior frontolateral process. Tachaea koreaensis sp. n. is distinguished from its congeners by having the expanded propodus with serrated inferior margins in pereopods 1–3, the propodus with serrated inferodistal margins in pereopods 4–7, one seta on the apical lobe of the maxilla, and ten robust setae on the posterior margin of the pleotelson.
Corallanidae , Gnathia , Gnathiidae , Isopoda , South Korea, Tachaea
The isopod crustacean family Gnathiidae Leach, 1814 is one of the nine families belonging to the superfamily Cymothooidea Leach, 1814. This family is unusual among isopods as its members exhibit peculiar morphological differences between juveniles (praniza stage) and adults (
The family Corallanidae Hansen, 1890 also belongs to the superfamily Cymothooidea. The genus Tachaea Schioedte & Meinert, 1879 is the smallest group in this family and is currently composed of seven species (
Herein, we report two new species collected from South Korea, Gnathia koreana sp. n. and Tachaea koreaensis sp. n. The genera Gnathia and Tachaea were first found in the United Kingdom and Singapore, respectively, but the present study represents the first record of these genera in South Korea.
Specimens of G. koreana sp. n. were collected using light traps from Geomun-do Island (approximately 10 m depth) in South Korea. The sediment at the sampling site was characterized as organic-rich muddy sand. Specimens of T. koreaensis sp. n. were collected as ectoparasites on the freshwater shrimps Macrobrachium nipponense (De Haan, 1849) and Palaemon paucidens De Haan, 1844 collected from reservoirs in South Korea. All specimens were preserved immediately after collection in 95% ethyl alcohol. The type specimens of the two new species have been deposited in the National Institute of Biological Resources (
The specimens were transferred to glycerine for dissection, and then examined and dissected under a dissection microscope (Olympus, model SZX-7). Figures of dissected appendages were drawn under a light microscope with an attached drawing tube (Leica, model DM 2500). Figures of the whole body were drawn using a drawing tube attached to a stereomicroscope (Olympus, model SZX-12). The lengths of all appendages and the whole body were measured with a stage micrometre (Leica, model no. 11513106) and an ocular micrometre. The photograph of the whole body of G. koreana sp. n. was taken using a digital camera (eXcope, model K6) mounted on a stereomicroscope, and those of the cephalon was taken using a scanning electron microscope (Hitachi, model S-4200). Pre-treatments were performed based on the methods described by
Morphological terminology and the orientation of each appendage largely follows
Gnathia maxillaris (Montagu, 1804) by original designation.
This key is based on males.
1 | Dorsal surface of pereon without tubercles | 2 |
– | Dorsal surface of pereon with tubercles, especially anteriorly | 13 |
2 | Paraocular ornamentation absent; mandible without incisor | 3 |
– | Paraocular ornamentation present; mandible with incisor | 8 |
3 | Dorsal surface of cephalon with tubercles; pylopod with three articles | G. limicola Ota & Tanaka, 2007 |
– | Dorsal surface of cephalon without tubercles; pylopod with two articles | 4 |
4 | Body very setose; inferior margins of pereopods without tubercles | G. capillata Nunomura & Honma, 2004 |
– | Body smooth or sparsely setose; inferior margins of pereopods with tubercles | 5 |
5 | Mediofrontal process bifid | 6 |
– | Mediofrontal process a single projection | 7 |
6 | Mediofrontal process broad, not elongated; superior frontolateral process triangular; mandible mediocre | G. bungoensis Nunomura, 1982 |
– | Mediofrontal process narrow anteriorly, elongated; superior frontolateral process rounded; mandible stout | G. mutsuensis Nunomura, 2004 |
7 | Mediofrontal process acute; mandibular setae absent | G. nasuta Nunomura, 1992 |
– | Mediofrontal process rounded; mandibular setae present | G. sanrikuensis Nunomura, 1998 |
8 | Mediofrontal process absent | G. maculosa Ota & Hirose, 2009 |
– | Mediofrontal process present | 9 |
9 | Mediofrontal process dividing into two apices; internal lobe of mandible absent | 10 |
– | Mediofrontal process not divided, a single projection; internal lobe of mandible present | 12 |
10 | Lateral margins of pereonites 2 and 3 with serrations; mediofrontal process broad, with remarkably concave apex | G. scabra Ota, 2012 |
– | Lateral margins of pereonites 2 and 3 without serrations; mediofrontal process narrow, with bifid apex | 11 |
11 | Paraocular ornamentation forming a ridge; superior frontolateral process rounded, serrated | G. koreana sp. n. |
– | Paraocular ornamentation not forming a ridge, with three indistinct tubercles; superior frontolateral process acute, not serrated | G. excavata Ota, 2012 |
12 | Cephalon without tubercles; paraocular ornamentation forming a ridge; mediofrontal process conical, longer than superior frontolateral process | G. camuripenis Tanaka, 2004 |
– | Cephalon with tubercles; paraocular ornamentation not forming a ridge, with several tubercles; mediofrontal process rounded, shorter than superior frontolateral process | G. kumejimensis Ota, 2012 |
13 | Mandible as long as or shorter than half-length of cephalon, with smooth blade | 14 |
– | Mandible longer than half-length of cephalon, with dentate blade | 16 |
14 | Cephalon with distinct serrations on lateral margins; mandible as long as half-length of cephalon | G. tuberculata Richardson, 1909 |
– | Cephalon serrated, but without distinct serrations on lateral margins; mandible shorter than half-length of cephalon | 15 |
15 | Epimera linguiform, visible dorsally on pleonites 1–5, directed to the sideward | G. derzhavini Gurjanova, 1933 |
– | Epimera acute, visible dorsally on pleonites 4 and 5, directed downward | G. schmidti Gurjanova, 1933 |
16 | Body sparsely setose; pylopod with two articles | G. teruyukiae Ota, 2011 |
– | Body very setose, covered with long setae; pylopod with three articles | 17 |
17 | Mediofrontal process broad, not elongated; epimera not visible dorsally on all pleonites | 18 |
– | Mediofrontal process narrow anteriorly, elongated; epimera visible dorsally on pleonites 3–5 | 20 |
18 | Mediofrontal process dividing into two apices; supraocular lobe with blunt apex | G. rufescens Ota, 2015 |
– | Mediofrontal process not divided, rounded; supraocular lobe with dentate apex | 19 |
19 | Dorsal surface of pereonite 4 without tubercles; superior frontolateral process with four setae | G. albipalpebrata Ota, 2014 |
– | Dorsal surface of pereonite 4 with tubercles; superior frontolateral process with several setae and tubercles | G. parvirostrata Ota, 2014 |
20 | Dorsolateral surface of pereonites 5 and 6 with tubercles; pleotelson with acute apex | G. nubila Ota & Hirose, 2009 |
– | Dorsolateral surface of pereonites 5 and 6 without tubercles; pleotelson with rounded apex | G. dejimagi Ota, 2014 |
Holotype: adult male (4.6 mm, NIBRIV0000554213); Yeogaekseon terminal, Geomundo Island, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, South Korea; 34°01'37"N, 127°18'27"E; 31 May 2014; approximately 10 m; coll. J.-H. Song. Paratype: adult male (4.3 mm, NIBRIV0000554214), same sample as holotype.
The specific name ‘koreana’ is derived from the name of the nation from which the specimens were collected.
Pereon dorsal surface smooth, sparsely setose, without tubercles. Cephalon dorsal surface sparsely setose with several granules medially. Paraocular ornamentation strongly developed, forming a ridge, without tubercles. Mediofrontal process strong and bifid. Superior frontolateral process shorter than mediofrontal process, rounded, and serrated. Mandible without pseudoblade and internal lobe.
(adult male, holotype).Body (Figures
Antennula (Figure
Mandible (Figures
Pereopods 2–6 (Figure
Pleopods 1–5 (Figure
This species was collected at approximately 10 m depth corresponding to a sedimentary bottom of muddy sand.
Gnathia koreana sp. n. is distinguished from other known species of Gnathia by the following characters: 1) the dorsal surface of the pereon without tubercles, 2) the paraocular ornamentation is strongly developed, forming a ridge, without tubercles, 3) the mediofrontal process is strong and bifid, 4) the superior frontolateral process is shorter than the mediofrontal process, rounded, and serrated, and 5) the mandible without internal lobe.
Gnathia koreana sp. n. is most similar to G. excavata from Japan in terms of the following characters: the body is smooth, the mediofrontal process is bifid, and the mandible without internal lobe. However, the new species is distinguished from G. excavata by the shape of the paraocular ornamentation and superior frontolateral process. In G. excavata, the paraocular ornamentation with three indistinct tubercles and the superior frontolateral process is acute and not serrated. In comparison, in the new species, the paraocular ornamentation with distinct unornamented ridge and the superior frontolateral process is rounded and serrated.
Only known from the type locality.
Tachaea crassipes Schioedte & Meinert, 1879
Six species are distributed in Asia: Tachaea chinensis Thielemann, 1910 (China, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia); T. crassipes Schioedte & Meinert, 1879 (Singapore); T. koreaensis sp. n. (South Korea); T. lacustris Weber, 1892 (Indonesia); T. spongillicola Stebbing, 1907 (India); and T. tonlesapensis Nunomura, 2006 (Cambodia). Two species are distributed in Australia: T. caridophaga (Riek, 1953) (Queensland); T. picta (Riek, 1967) (Queensland and New South Wales) (
This key is based on females. Therefore, we excluded T. crassipes that is designated the holotype based on the male specimen.
1 | Propodus of pereopod 1 expanded on inferior margin | 2 |
– | Propodus of pereopod 1 not expanded on inferior margin | 4 |
2 | Maxillipedal palp with three articles; endopod of uropod surpassing pleotelson | T. chinensis |
– | Maxillipedal palp with four articles; endopod of uropod not surpassing pleotelson | 3 |
3 | Pereonite 1 as long as pereonite 2; incisor of mandible with two cusps; apical lobe of maxilla without seta; pleotelson with eight robust setae on posterior margin | T. spongillicola |
– | Pereonite 1 1.7 times longer than pereonite 2; incisor of mandible with one cusp; apical lobe of maxilla with one seta; pleotelson with ten robust setae on posterior margin | T. koreaensis sp. n. |
4 | Incisor of mandible with three cusps; maxillipedal palp with five articles | T. tonlesapensis |
– | Incisor of mandible with one or two cusps; maxillipedal palp with three or four articles | 5 |
5 | Pereonite 1 longer than other pereonites, 2.0 times longer than pereonite 5; apex of pleotelson with truncated margin | T. lacustris |
– | Pereonite 1 marginally longer or shorter than pereonite 5; apex of pleotelson with rounded margin | 6 |
6 | Pereonite 1 longer than pereonite 5; maxillipedal palp with three articles | T. caridophaga |
– | Pereonite 1 shorter than pereonite 5; maxillipedal palp with four articles | T. picta |
Holotype: non-ovigerous female (4.8 mm, NIBRIV0000554215); Buheungji reservoir, Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea; 35°55'19"N, 128°59'14"E; 18 April 2013; approximately 2 m; coll. K.-S. Sim; ectoparasites of Macrobrachium nipponense. Paratype: non-ovigerous female (4.3 mm, NIBRIV0000754063); Wolga reservoir, Wolga-ri, Gunnae-myeon, Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea; 34°29'36"N, 126°17'35"E; 23 September 2016; 1.4 m; using a landing net; coll. D.-H. Ahn, C. W. Lee, H.-M. Yang and J.-H. Song; ectoparasites of Palaemon paucidens.
The specific name ‘koreaensis’ is derived from the name of the nation from which the specimens were collected.
Pereopods 1–3 propodus expanded with serrations on inferior margins. Pereopods 4–7 propodus with serrations on inferodistal margins. Mandible incisor with one cusp. Maxilla apical lobe with one seta. Maxillipedal palp with four articles. Pleotelson with ten robust setae on posterior margin.
(non-ovigerous female, holotype).Body (Figure
Frontal lamina (Figure
Antennula (Figure
Mandible (Figure
Pereopods 1–3 (Figure
Pleopods 1–5 (Figure
Tachaea koreaensis sp. n. is distinguished from other known species of Tachaea by the following combination of characters: 1) the inferior margins of the propodus of pereopods 1–3 is expanded with serrations, 2) the inferodistal margins of the propodus of pereopods 4–7 with serrations, 3) the apical lobe of the maxilla with one seta, and 4) the posterior margin of the pleotelson with ten robust setae.
Tachaea koreaensis sp. n. is most similar to T. spongillicola from India, but it can be distinguished from the latter by the following characters: the ratio of pereonite 1 to pereonite 2, the number of cusps on the mandible, the presence or absence of setae on the apical lobe of the maxilla, and the number of robust setae on the posterior margin of the pleotelson. In T. spongillicola, the pereonite 1 is as long as the pereonite 2, the incisor of the mandible with two cusps, the apical lobe of the maxilla without seta, and the posterior margin of the pleotelson with eight robust setae. In comparison, in the new species, the pereonite 1 is 1.7 times as long as the pereonite 2, the incisor of the mandible with one cusp, the apical lobe of the maxilla with one seta, and the posterior margin of the pleotelson with ten robust setae.
Jeollanam-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do (South Korea).
This work was supported by grants from Inha University. We thank ‘Kwang-Sub Sim’ (Natural Environmental Restoration Institute Co., LTD, Korea) for providing specimens of T. koreaensis sp. n.