Morphological Description and Molecular Analysis of Newly Recorded Asteroid, <i>Henricia djakonovi</i> Chichvarkhin, 2017 (Asteroidea: Spinulosida: Echinasteridae), from Dokdo Island, Korea

Abstract

We recently collected the samples of Henricia from adjacent waters of Dokdo Island, Korea, using trimix SCUBA diving. Based on a combined result of morphological and molecular analysis, we identified our specimen as Henricia djakonovi Chichvarkhin, 2017, which is newly recorded in Korea. Morphologically, H. djakonovi has crescent abactinal plates bearing numerous pillar-shaped abactinal spines with a droplet-like apical tip. Moreover, molecular analysis based on the mitochondrial COI gene occurred that clearly distinguished H. djakonovi from other species of Henricia in the pairwise genetic distance and maximum likelihood analysis. Accordingly, 15 species of Henricia are recorded in Korean fauna, including H. djakonovi.

Keywords

• taxonomy
• morphology
• DNA barcoding
• COI