In kyu Lee alga (Aglaothamnion inkyui) from Korea closely related to Aglaothamnion pseudobyssoides

NEWS - Researchers collected red algae from the east coast of Korea and phylogenetic analysis using rbcL sequences and two DNA-based species delimitation analyses revealed the specimens to be a new species, In kyu Lee alga (Aglaothamnion inkyui E.Shim & G.H.Kim sp. nov), which is closely related to A. pseudobyssoides.

Aglaothamnion was assigned by Feldmann-Mazoyer (1941) to species previously placed in the genus Callithamnion, with the type species A. furcellariae (J.Agardh) Feldmann-Mazoyer (1941: 454), which was later synonymized with A. tenuissimum (Bonnemaison) Feldmann-Mazoyer (1941; 469).

Currently 35 Aglaothamnion names are accepted and 3 of them are recorded from Korea: A. callophyllidicola (Yamada) Boo, I.K.Lee, Rueness & Yoshida (1991), A. chejuense (G.H.Kim & I.K.Lee) and A. oosumiense Itono (1971). Now Eunyoung Shim and Gwang Hoon Kim from Kongju National University in Gongju and colleagues examine the new collection as a new species of red alga.

A. inkyui has a thallus is uniseriate, thin, up to 4 cm high, attached at the base by multicellular rhizoids. No reproductive structures were seen. Branching is dichotomously alternate, sometimes branches appear at irregular intervals at the bottom of the axial cells.

Freshly collected thalli are reddish in color with a light brown hue. Near the base of the thallus, the initial regular dichotomous pattern is sometimes less easy to observe. Branching results in a marked zig-zag arrangement of the axial cells in the apical parts of the thallus. Mature axial cells, ca. 10 cells below the apex, are longer than wide (30-60 mm by 300-500 mm; L/W: 2–8:1).

Lateral branching is of 2-3 orders; the apical cell is blunt. All cells are uninucleate. The average nuclear size is 10x15 μm in the main axial cells, while the newly growing cells at the tip had smaller nuclei, averaging 4x6 μm.

The species is distributed in Sungeut Beach, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea. It is mostly found on tidal rocky substrates. The fibrous thallus is attached to hard rocky substrates. This is a new species record of South Korea. The name honors Professor In kyu Lee for his many years of psychological research in South Korea.

Original research

Eunyoung Shim, Soo Yeon Kim, Yong Tae Kim, Giuseppe C. Zuccarello & Gwang Hoon Kim (2024). A new species of Aglaothamnion (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from Korea, Aglaothamnion inkyui sp. nov. Phytotaxa 671 (1): 001–011, DOI:10.11646/phytotaxa.671.1.1

Dlium theDlium

Dry Valleys on Antarctic continent is the driest place in the world

The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world, rainfall is very low, only stretches of sand and rocks without rivers and plants further strengthen the view of drought. However, it turns out that the place is not the driest place in the world. Dry Valleys in Antarctica, although the continent is covered in ice, but has one part that is completely dry. Although the average rainfall in most of the Sahara Desert is less than 20 millimeters per year, there are still drier places. Dry Valleys in Antarctica is much drier where the average rainfall is 0 millimeters per year and gets the title of the driest place in the world. The valleys have so low humidity that there is almost no ice. This is the largest ice free place on the Antarctic continent. The area is surrounded by mountains that block ice from flowing into the valley. Drought is also caused by strong katabalic gusts from mountain peaks where cold air blows down the hill due to gravity. The wind has speeds of up to 322 k...

Giant golden spider (Nephila pilipes)

Kemlanding or giant golden orbweaver ( Nephila pilipes ) is an animal species in the Araneidae, a web spider with a vertical and asymmetrical mesh, sexually dimorphic with elongated females up to 20 cm in size and has a large investment in egg production and web construction, whereas males only a few millimeters. N. pilipes displays female gigantism and male dwarfism. Females usually have a body size of 30-50 mm, the cephalothorax is 15 mm long and 10 mm wide. The stomach is 30 mm long, 15 mm wide and is mostly tawny with yellow stripes. The female has black or brown, covered in thick hairs. The two rows of eyes stick out towards the back. Plastron is mostly black and brown. The legs are very long, stick-shaped with several joints, black and yellow, lacking of hairs. Males are 5-6.5 mm in size, cephalothorax is 2.5 mm long and 2 mm wide. The stomach is 4 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. The front eye is bigger than the back eye. The legs are light brown with some hair. Yellow carapace with ...

Tekijem (Cyperus cyperoides)

Tekijem ( Cyperus cyperoides ) is a plant species in Cyperaceae, annual grasses that grow in seasonal wetlands, open or shaded fields, swamps, ponds, rice fields, roadsides, open forests, secondary forests and shrubs at altitudes up to 1,800 m in the tropics. C. cyperoides has an upright, triangular shape, 20-75 cm tall from a very short rhizome and has no stolon. The lanceolate-shaped leaves are narrow and long, the tips are pointed, slippery, shiny, green and grow at the bottom and at the top of the stem. The terminal flower appears on the tip of the stem, cylindrical spiklet shaped and green. Each stem has two to seven flowers, each of which has a short or long stem that grows at the end of the stem together with the leaves. Tekijem grows solitary or in small groups at a distance. Propagating using vegetative and generative methods using seeds. At least three sub-species are Cyperus cyperoides cyperoides , Cyperus cyperoides flavus and Cyperus cyperoides pseudoflavus . Th...

Dlium