Molecular and morphological evidence for the taxonomic status of a newly reported species of Albula (Albuliformes: Albulidae) from Korea and Taiwan

To clarify the taxonomic status of five specimens of Albula collected from Korea and Taiwan (Albula sp.), genetic differences among them and other congeneric species were investigated based on mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b sequences. All five specimens of Albula sp. showed identical haplotypes and strongly supported a monophyletic group on phylogenetic analysis. The genetic differences between Albula sp. and ten other species of Albula ranged from 0.100 to 0.164. These values were almost equal to or exceeded the interspecific differences among the latter ten species (0.038-0.206). Morphological comparisons of Albula sp. and another four Indo-Pacific species, A. argentea, A. glossodonta, A. oligolepis and A. virgata, are also presented. Albula sp. could be distinguished from the latter four species in their numbers of pored lateral-line scales, anal fin rays and vertebrae, as well as in several proportional measurements.