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

Banded dragonfish (Akarotaxis gouldae) diverged from Akarotaxis nudiceps 780,000 years ago

NEWS - A new species of dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or banded dragonfish, off the western Antarctic Peninsula by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, the University of Oregon at Eugene, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, highlights the unknown biodiversity and fragile ecosystems of the Antarctic. A. gouldae was named in honor of the Antarctic Research and Supply Vessel (ARSV) Laurence M. Gould and crew. The larval specimen was collected while trawling for zooplankton and was initially thought to be the closely related Akarotaxis nudiceps hundreds of thousands of years ago. DNA comparisons with A. nudiceps specimens held in collections at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Yale University, and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris showed significant variation in mitochondrial genes that suggested the larval sample was a distinct species. Andrew Corso of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and colle...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Bush sorrel (Hibiscus surattensis)

Bush sorrel ( Hibiscus surattensis ) is a plant species in Malvaceae, annual shrub, crawling on the surface or climbing, up to 3 meters long, thorny stems, green leaves, yellow trumpet flowers, grows wild in forests and canal edges, widely used for vegetables and treatment. H. surattensis has stems with spines and hairs, branching and reddish green. Petiole emerges from the stem with a straight edge to the side, up to 11 cm long, sturdy, thorny, hairy and reddish green. The leaves have a length of 10 cm, width of 10 cm, 3-5 lobed, each has a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, sharp tip, sharp and jagged edges, wavy, stiff, green surface. Flowers up to 10 cm long, trumpet-shaped, yellow with a purple or brown or red center, solitary, axillary. Epicalyx has forked bracts, linear inner branches, spathulate outer branches. Stalks up to 6-7 cm. The seeds have a length of 3-3.5 mm and a width of 2.5 mm. Bush sorrels grow in pastures, marshes, abandoned fields and plantations, ...

Dlium