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

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.

Taxonomy of <italic>Ulva</italic> causing blooms from Jeju Island, Korea with new species, <italic>U. pseudo-ohnoi</italic> sp. nov. (Ulvales, Chlorophyta)

“…Historically the identification of Ulva species in Korea has been conducted almost entirely based on morphology, and only a few studies have employed molecular analysis of this genus (Bae and Lee 2001, Kang et al 2014. Kang et al (2019) reported the proportional occurrences of Ulva species using molecular approaches.…”

“…Although U. australis is also a bloom-forming species, it is not a free-floating, but requires attachment around Jeju Island. On the other hand, green tides in the Yellow Sea of the Korean Peninsula consisted predominantly of U. linza and rarely of U. compressa or U. prolifera (Kang et al 2014). U. linza is characterized by strap-shaped, sheet-like thalli with ruffled blade margins, but it shows considerable phenotypic plasticity induced by the environment (Brodie et al 2007, Belton et al 2014).…”

“…U. linza is characterized by strap-shaped, sheet-like thalli with ruffled blade margins, but it shows considerable phenotypic plasticity induced by the environment (Brodie et al 2007, Belton et al 2014). Most floating bloom species from the western coast of Korea were confirmed to be U. linza based on their rbcL sequences, but manifested U. prolifera-type morphology (Kang et al 2014). In the present study, the molecular phylogenetic tree showed different main species among free-floating Ulva blooms, including U. ohnoi with U. pseudo-ohnoi sp.…”

“…, Kawai et al 2007. Ulva blooms in the Yellow Sea rapidly generate a huge amount of biomass that can be transported to the western coast of the Korean Peninsula (Kang et al 2014).…”

Bloom of a Filamentous Green Alga Cladophora vadorum (Areschoug) Kützing and Nutrient Levels at Shangrok Beach, Buan, Korea

“…, (Ulva) , (golden tide) (Sargassum) (Norkko and Bonsdorff, 1996). 2008 6 (Pang et al, 2010;Kang et al, 2014 (Higgins et al, 2008).…”