Contribution to the knowledge of the marine bivalve mollusk fauna of Gangwon Province, Korea

Abstract

Marine bivalve mollusks were obtained from 13 collecting sites, intertidally on beaches and from fishing nets in ports, along the coast of Gangwon Province, Korea. A total of 70 species belonging to 27 families were encountered; all species are illustrated with photographs. Among them, 17 species are recorded for the first time for Gangwon-do, and two species are new records for Korea: Gari chinensis Deshayes, 1855 (Psammobiidae) and Clinocardium likharevi (Kafanov in Scarlato, 1981) (Cardiidae). Taxonomic and distributional comments on 13 species are provided, and the biogeography of the area is discussed. Some warm-water species of bivalves [e.g. Anadara talmiensis (Kalishevich, 1976), Trapezium liratum (Reeve, 1843), and Meretrix lusoria (Röding, 1798)], found in Gangwon-do for the first time, are remnants of the Holocene warming in the Russian sector of the East Sea (Sea of Japan), thus indicating the significance of Korean waters as a transitional zone for past molluscan migrations. Keywords: Biogeography, Bivalves, East Sea (Sea of Japan), Korea, New records