Re-evaluation of green tide-forming species in the Yellow Sea

doi:2014.29.4.267

Algae > Volume 29(4); 2014 > Article

Algae 2014;29(4): 267-277. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2014.29.4.267

Eun Ju Kang¹, Ju-Hyoung Kim¹, Keunyong Kim¹, Han-Gu Choi² and Kwang Young Kim¹^,*

¹Department of Oceanography, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea
²Division of Life Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, KIOST, Incheon 406-840, Korea

*Corresponding Author

Email: kykim@chonnam.ac.kr

ABSTRACT

Green tides occur every year in the Yellow Sea (YS), and numerous investigations are proceeding on various aspects of the phenomenon. We have identified bloom-forming species collected from diverse locations in the YS using morphological traits and the chloroplast gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL). Morphological and rbcL sequence data analyses characterized the blooming species on both sides of the YS as belonging to the Ulva linza-procera-prolifera (LPP) complex clade or U. prolifera of earlier reports. However, U. procera within the LPP complex must be regarded as synonym of U. linza. Moreover, U. prolifera in free-floating samples collected from the Qingdao coast in 2009 was clearly in a distinct clade from that of the blooming species. Therefore, U. linza is the main green tide alga in the YS and has the procera-morphology. The green drift mats in the southeastern part of the YS (southwest sea of Korea) consisted predominantly of U. linza and rarely of U. compressa or U. prolifera.

Key words: green tide; procera-morphology; rbcL; Ulva linza; Ulva prolifera; Yellow Sea