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First records of zooxanthellate Zoanthus (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) from Korea and Japan (East) Sea

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Abstract

This report presents the first records of the zooxanthellate species Zoanthus sansibaricus (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia: Zoanthidae) from Jeju Island, Korea, in the East China Sea, and from Dogo-jima Island in the Oki Islands, Japan, in the Sea of Japan (= East Sea). Its discovery at Jeju Island also represents the first formal record of the order Zoantharia from Korea, while the record from Dogo-jima Island is the first from the Sea of Japan. These two records greatly expand the recorded range of this widespread species, suggesting that it is highly tolerant of winter sea surface temperatures as low as 11.5 °C. Additionally, these records will provide important range limit information to compare with future findings in the face of global warming and predicted northward expansion of benthic zooxanthellate species.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant to the senior author and by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science ‘Kiban B’ grant entitled ‘Global evolution of Brachycnemina and their Symbiodinium’ to the first author. KS Choi and S Kim were supported by the project ‘Long-term changes of structure and function in marine ecosystems of Korea (2016)’ from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea. Fumihito Iwase (Shikoku Marine Life Laboratory) is thanked for introducing the first author to information on zoantharians in the Sea of Japan. Two anonymous reviewers’ comments helped improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    James D. Reimer

  2. Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    James D. Reimer

  3. School of Marine Biomedical Science, Jeju National University, 102 Jejudaehakno, 690-756, Jeju, South Korea

    Sangil Kim, Shashank Keshavmurthy & Kwang-sik Choi

  4. Ocean Climate & Ecology Research Division, National Institute of Fisheries Science, Busan, 46083, South Korea

    Sangil Kim

  5. Marine Algae Research Co., Ltd., Minatozaka 3-9-4, Kasuya-gun, Fukuoka, 811-0114, Japan

    Shogo Arai

  6. Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nangang, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan

    Shashank Keshavmurthy

Authors
  1. James D. Reimer
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  2. Sangil Kim
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  3. Shogo Arai
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  4. Shashank Keshavmurthy
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  5. Kwang-sik Choi
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Correspondence to James D. Reimer.

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Communicated by B. W. Hoeksema

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Reimer, J.D., Kim, S., Arai, S. et al. First records of zooxanthellate Zoanthus (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) from Korea and Japan (East) Sea. Mar Biodiv 48, 1269–1273 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0567-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0567-1

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