Home Life Sciences A new crustose brown alga, Endoplura geojensis sp. nov. (Ralfsiales, Phaeophyceae) from Korea based on molecular and morphological analyses
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A new crustose brown alga, Endoplura geojensis sp. nov. (Ralfsiales, Phaeophyceae) from Korea based on molecular and morphological analyses

  • Antony Otinga Oteng’o

    Currently, Antony Otinga Oteng’o is a lecturer and graduate program coordinator in Department of Biological Sciences and Agriculture, University of Eastern Africa, Kenya. He was awarded a PhD in Department of Biology from Chosun University, focusing on taxonomy and phylogeny of the brown algal order Ralfsiales. His main research interests are brown algal systematics and biodiversity.

     ORCID logo     , Boo Yeon Won

    Boo Yeon Won is a research professor in Department of Biological Science at Chosun University, Korea. Her PhD in environmental and evolutionary biology was obtained from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA focusing on three tribes, Ceramieae, Antithamnieae, Spyridieae in Ceramiaceae (Rhodophyta). Her main research interests are algal systematics and seaweed biogeography.

     ORCID logo     and Tae Oh Cho

    Tae Oh Cho is a professor in Department of Biological Science at Chosun University, Korea. He was awarded a PhD in Department of Biology from Chungnam National University, focusing on taxonomy and phylogeny of the red algal genus Ceramium. His research focus is on taxonomy, phylogeny, phylogeography, and evolution of macroalgae. His main research interests are also applied to the biodiversity and conservation of macroalgae.

     ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 29, 2025
Botanica Marina
From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 68 Issue 5

Abstract

Endoplura, a genus of crustose brown algae, has consisted of five species: E. aurea, E. gyeokpoensis, E. jejuensis, E. koreana, and E. limpeticola. The genus is characterized by intercalary plurangial reproductive structures, which are made up of 2–4 separate parallel filaments that end in 2–5 sterile cells, as well as by cells containing numerous chloroplasts. In this study, phylogenetic analyses of the concatenated rbcL and COI-5P dataset revealed six well-supported lineages within Endoplura. The specimens from Korea formed a distinct and strongly supported clade (BPP, 1.0/BS, 100) representing the new species. This clade was designated as Endoplura geojensis sp. nov., resolved as the sister clade of E. gyeokpoensis, with low support. Genetic distances between E. geojensis sp. nov. and its congeners ranged from 2.6 % to 8.4 % for rbcL and 10.9 %–13.7 % for COI-5P. E. geojensis sp. nov. is characterized by small, yellowish to dark brown crustose thalli up to 1.5 cm in size, a tuft of hairs emerging from the mid to apical cells of erect filaments, plurangia composed of 2–5 separate parallel reproductive filaments ending in 2–3 sterile cells, and unangia associated with paraphyses and soral filaments.

Keywords: COI-5P; phylogeny; rbcL; taxonomy
Corresponding author: Tae Oh Cho, Department of Biological Science, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea, E-mail:

Funding source: Chosun University

Award Identifier / Grant number: Chosun University (2022)

About the authors

Antony Otinga Oteng’o

Currently, Antony Otinga Oteng’o is a lecturer and graduate program coordinator in Department of Biological Sciences and Agriculture, University of Eastern Africa, Kenya. He was awarded a PhD in Department of Biology from Chosun University, focusing on taxonomy and phylogeny of the brown algal order Ralfsiales. His main research interests are brown algal systematics and biodiversity.

Boo Yeon Won

Boo Yeon Won is a research professor in Department of Biological Science at Chosun University, Korea. Her PhD in environmental and evolutionary biology was obtained from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA focusing on three tribes, Ceramieae, Antithamnieae, Spyridieae in Ceramiaceae (Rhodophyta). Her main research interests are algal systematics and seaweed biogeography.

Tae Oh Cho

Tae Oh Cho is a professor in Department of Biological Science at Chosun University, Korea. He was awarded a PhD in Department of Biology from Chungnam National University, focusing on taxonomy and phylogeny of the red algal genus Ceramium. His research focus is on taxonomy, phylogeny, phylogeography, and evolution of macroalgae. His main research interests are also applied to the biodiversity and conservation of macroalgae.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for the detailed comments and Prof. Matthew J. Dring for many constructive suggestions to improve the manuscript.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: All the authors have actively contributed to this study and accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests regarding this article.

  6. Research funding: This study was supported by a research fund from Chosun University (2022) to T. O. Cho.

  7. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2025-0004).

Received: 2025-01-21
Accepted: 2025-06-24
Published Online: 2025-07-29
Published in Print: 2025-10-27

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2025-0004
Keywords for this article
COI-5P; phylogeny; rbcL; taxonomy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Physiology and Ecology
  4. Labelling kelps with 13C and 15N for isotope tracing or enrichment experiments
  5. Effects of thermal history on the heat shock response of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana)
  6. Naturally occurring protoplasts in two Ulva spp. reveal a previously underestimated proliferation process
  7. Taxonomy/Phylogeny and Biogeography
  8. Unveiling Cladophora (Cladophorales, Chlorophyta) diversity in Turkey through DNA barcoding
  9. A new crustose brown alga, Endoplura geojensis sp. nov. (Ralfsiales, Phaeophyceae) from Korea based on molecular and morphological analyses
  10. Diversity of turf-forming Gelidium species growing on subtidal crustose coralline algae in the East Sea of Korea with a description of G. cristatum sp. nov.
  11. First record of the diatom pathogen Diatomophthora perforans cf. subsp. pleurosigmae (Oomycota) from the Mediterranean microphytobenthos
  12. Staminate flowers of the non-native seagrass, Halophila stipulacea, observed for the first time in Biscayne Bay, Florida, USA
  13. Chemistry and Applications
  14. Chemical and biological potential of fungi from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and an oxygen minimum zone
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