Vol. 60, 2021
(update: 2021.07.27; 11.12)
Population Genetic Structures
of the Jellyfish Aurelia coerulea
Polyps on Korean Coasts and Implications as Revealed by Mitochondrial COI
Yoseph
Seo1,§ ,
Buhari Lawan Muhammad1,§ ,
Jinho Chae2, and Jang-Seu Ki1,*
doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-63
1Department
of Biotechnology, Sangmyung University, Seoul 03016, South Korea.
E-mail: akdldytpq12@gmail.com (Seo); buharilawan20@gmail.com
(Muhammad); jinhochae@gmail.com (Chae)
2Marine Environmental Research and Information
Laboratory, Gunpo 15850, South Korea. *Correspondence: E-mail:
kijs@smu.ac.kr (Ki). Tel: +82-2-2287-5449. Fax: +82-2-2287-0070.
§YS and BKM contributed
equally to this work.
Received 1 April 2021 / Accepted 20 July 2021
Communicated by James D. Reimer
The moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea,
is globally distributed, and its blooms have been responsible for
severe environmental impacts. Benthic polyp populations are important
for forming and maintaining medusa populations; however, their genetic
structures are mostly unknown. Here, we analysed the genetic structure
and phylogeographic pattern of A.
coerulea polyps using the mitochondrial COI of 229 specimens collected from
four different coastal regions of Korea. Molecular discrimination by COI assigned all polyps to A. coruelea.
Population genetics revealed 53 haplotypes with high diversity and
significant genetic structure, distinguishing two haplogroups (A and B)
that coexist in all regions. Haplogroup A exhibited a star-like
haplotype network pattern, while haplogroup B demonstrated a branched
haplotype network pattern. Our results suggest that, the two
haplogroups detected have existed in sympatry along Korean coasts.
However, haplogroup A may have been established by a recent population
expansion, while haplogroup B may have been established a long time
ago. The strong genetic structure found within the polyp population of A. coerulea may have an effect on
the moon jellyfish blooms on Korean coasts.
Key words: A. coerulea, Benthic polyp,
Cytochrome c oxidase subunit
I, Genetic diversity, Jellyfish bloom.
Citation: Seo Y, Muhammad BW, Chae J, Ki
JS. 2021. Population genetic structures of the jellyfish Aurelia coerulea polyps on Korean
coasts and implications as revealed by Mitochondrial COI. Zool Stud 60:63. doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-63.

Supplementary
materials: Fig. S1丨Fig. S2丨Fig. S3丨Table S1丨Table S2丨Table S3
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