Genetic diversity and distribution of edible scytosiphonacean algaefrom Ulleungdo Island, Korea

Despite the abundance of seaweeds from Ulleungdo Island, genetic diversity and distribution of edible brown al-gae from the island remain unstudied. We analyzed mitochondrialcox3 sequences from 86 specimens collected in theisland and from the nearby Korean Peninsula. Ourcox3 phylogeny for the first time confirmed the occurrence of fivesspecies from Ulleungdo Island;Petalonia binghamiae,P. fascia,Planosiphon zosterifolius,and two cryptic species previ-ously identified asScytosiphon lomentaria.P. binghamiaewas relatively homogeneous withthree haplotypes.P.fasciacomprised four haplotypes, which were grouped into two genetic lineages.S.lomentariawas heterogeneous with ninehaplotypes and was divided into two cryptic species; one species clustered with taxa from cold waters while the otherclustered with taxa from temperate and cold waters. Low genetic diversity inP. binghamiaewhile high genetic diversityinS. lomentariafrom Ulleungdo Island arecomparable to patterns observed from other species from the Korean pen-insula. Ulleungdo Island, although small in size, is an ideal field laboratory to investigate genetic diversity and distribu-tions of economic marine algae