Recent progress in studies of the Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of South Korea with seven new records for the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

A study of the Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) from the Korean Peninsula resulted in the checklist of Jeong et al. (2014). Several sampling campaigns conducted by our team since 2014, with the framework of the programs supported by the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR), have resulted in a considerable increase in the number of water bodies studied in South Korea. In this report, seven new records for the Korean Peninsula are provided: (1) Macrothrix vietnamensis Silva-Briano, Dieu and Dumont, 1999; (2) Disparalona chappuisi (Brehm, 1931); (3) Pleuroxus (Picripleuroxus) quasidenticulatus (Smirnov, 1996); (4) Acroperus africanus Neretina and Kotov, 2015; (5) Alona ossiani herricki Sinev, 2013; (6) Coronatella trachystriata (Chen, Zhang and Liu, 1994); (7) Leydigia louisi Jenkin, 1934. Most of these taxa belong to the southern thermophilic complex. In addition several populations of Pleuroxus (Picripleuroxus) denticulatus Birge, 1879 and Pseudochydorus globosus (Baird, 1843) were re-studied, and their presence in Korea is confirmed. Through increased collection efforts and the application of molecular methods we are confident that more new records of Korean fauna will be published in the near future.