한국 주변해역 바다뱀科(뱀장어目) 어류의 분류 및 분자계통학적 연구

Abstract

Abstract The taxonomic review of 6 genera and 10 species in the family Ophichthidae was carried out based on specimens from the adjacent waters of Korea. In counts the number of vertebrae was well distinguished among 10 species; Ophisurus macrorhynchos (201∼209), Ophichthus rotundus (178∼183), Pisodonophis zophistius (179∼182), Pisodonophis cancrivorus (153∼164), Echelus uropterus (152∼158), Muraenichthys gymnopterus (155∼156), Ophichthus evermanni (150∼154), Brachysomophis porphyreus (137∼148), Ophichthus urolophus (135∼138) and Ophichthus asakusae (124∼134). In measurements, snout length in head length was well distinguished among 6 genera; Ophisurus (27.2∼31.2), Echelus (21.7∼27.8), Ophichthus (13.9∼22.7), Pisodonophis (17.7∼20.4), Muraenichthys (8.4∼11.8) and Brachysomophis (9.1∼9.4). In genetics, mitochondrial DNA 12S rRNA 958bp sequences were compared with those of 17 ophichthid species and five outgroups. This study suggests the non-monophyly of the family Ophichthidae because four outgroups were located between the subfamilies Ophichthinae and Myrophinae. Additional studies are needed in order to clarify the relationship among the two subfamilies and related families (Muraenesocidae and Congridae). Maximum-likelihood tree showed that only O. evermanni was closely clustered with the Ophichthus spp., suggesting relocation of the species. In this study, a total of 24 specimens of Pisodonophis sp. were collected from the South Sea of Korea, and was identified as a new species. The scientific name of this species is proposed as "Pisodonophis sangjuensis" and its Korean name as "Sangju-mul-baem". Among 10 recorded ophichthid species in the Korean waters, seven species (E. uropterus, O. macrorhynchos, O. rotundus, O. urolophus, O. asakusae, P. cancrivorus, M. gymnopterus) were collected from the Yellow Sea, South Sea and around the Jeju Island, suggesting that the ophichthid fishes prefer warmer areas. Besides, three species (P. zophistius, B. porphyreus, O. evermanni) were not collected in the present study, accordingly, they are not distributed or rarely occurred near Korean waters.