Vol. 63, 2024

The Fauna of Parasitic Barnacles (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala) in Korea

¹Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea. *Correspondence: E-mail: jkpark@ewha.ac.kr (Park)
²School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea. E-mail: apociv@gmail.com (Jung)

(Received 31 August 2023 / Accepted 21 December 2023 / Published 15 March 2024)
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

Rhizocephala is a group of endoparasitic barnacles, the morphological characteristics of which are degenerated, and which has recently undergone active molecular identification. Despite several recent studies of Korean rhizocephalans, a comprehensive analysis of rhizocephalan fauna has not yet been conducted. In this study, we analyzed morphological and molecular characteristics of 64 rhizocephalan samples from 15 decapod hosts sampled across the Korean coast. We found 16 Rhizocephala species of six genera from four Rhizocephala families, i.e., Peltogasterellidae, Peltogastridae, Polyascidae, and Sacculinidae. Combining morphological examination and molecular analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I revealed three new species candidates, i.e., Peltogasterella sp., Peltogaster sp., and Parasacculina sp. 1, and three rhizocephalans that have expanded their distribution range to the Korean coast, i.e., Parasacculina oblonga, Sacculina angulata, and Sacculina gracilis, whose expanded their distribution range to Korean coast. A synthetic update of Korean Rhizocephala fauna including a species checklist and remarks regarding distribution and taxonomy is also presented.

Key words: Rhizocephala, Cirripedia, Parasitic barnacles, Decapod hosts, Distribution pattern, Korean coast

Citation: Jung J, Park JK. 2024. The fauna of parasitic barnacles (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala) in Korea. Zool Stud 63:01. doi:10.6620/ZS.2024.63-01.