All Issue

2025 Vol.5, Issue 2 Preview Page

Original Articles

First Record of Adult Halicampus punctatus off Jeju Island, Korea
Sihyun Park12
,
Sung Kim12*
1Ocean Science, KIOST School, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34113, Korea
2Ocean Climate Response & Ecosystem Research Department, KIOST, Pusan 49111, Korea
*Corresponding Author
31 December 2025. pp. 29-35
PDF XML Citation
Abstract

Although larval stages of the starry pipefish, Halicampus punctatus, have previously been documented in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, adult specimens have not yet been confirmed. Here, we report the first collection of five adult specimens from the eastern waters off Jeju Island and identify them using both morphological characters and COI sequence analysis. The specimens were identified as H. punctatus based on morphological features consistent with previous descriptions. The COI distance and maximum-likelihood (ML) analyses demonstrated that the present Korean specimens formed a clade with H. macrorhynchus, diverging from other members of the genus. This phylogenetic configuration directly challenges the monophyly of the genus Halicampus and necessitates a taxonomic revision.

Keywords
COI Phylogeny
Halicampus punctatus
Jeju Island
Starry pipefish
References
1

Breder CM and Rosen DE. 1966. Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey, U.S.A., 941 p.

2

Clark K, Karsch-Mizrachi I, Lipman DJ, Ostell J and Sayers EW. 2016. GenBank. Nucleic Acids Research 44, D67-D72.

10.1093/nar/gkv127626590407PMC4702903
3

Dawson CE. 1985. Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, U.S.A.

4

FishBase. 2025. Halicampus punctatus distribution map. Retrieved from https://www.fishbase.se/map/Halicampus_punctatus on December 3.

5

Fricke R, Eschmeyer WN and van der Laan R, eds. 2025. Eschmeyer’s catalog of fishes: genera, species, references. Retrieved from https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp on December 1.

6

Hamilton H, Saarman N, Short G, Sellas AB, Moore B, Hoang T, Gan CW and Simison WB. 2017. Molecular phylogeny and patterns of diversification in syngnathid fishes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 107, 388-403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.10.003.

10.1016/j.ympev.2016.10.003
7

Kamohara T. 1952. Additions to the offshore bottom-fishes of Prov. Tosa, Japan, with descriptions of two new species. Research Reports of the Kochi University 1, 1-3.

8

Kim S, Oh J and Lee YH. 2006. Description of the post larva of star pipefish, Halicampus punctatus (Syngnathidae, Gasterosteiformes) first found in the southwestern East Sea, Korea. Ocean Science Journal 41, 201-205. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03020622.

10.1007/BF03020622
9

Ko HL, Wang YT, Chiu TS, Lee MA, Leu MY, Chang KZ, Strüssmann CA and Shao KT. 2013. Evaluating the accuracy of morphological identification of larval fishes by applying DNA barcoding. PLoS ONE 8, e53451. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053451.

10.1371/journal.pone.005345123382845PMC3561387
10

Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C and Tamura K. 2018. MEGA X: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution 35, 1547-1549. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy096.

10.1093/molbev/msy09629722887PMC5967553
11

Lee JH and Kim JK. 2020. First reliable record of the red pipefish Festucalex erythraeus (Syngnathidae: Perciformes) from Korea. Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53, 784-789. https://doi.org/10.5657/KFAS.2020.0784.

10.5657/KFAS.2020.0784
12

Nei M and Kumar S. 2000. Molecular evolution and phylogenetics. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

10.1093/oso/9780195135848.001.0001
13

Okiyama M, ed. 2014. An atlas of early stage fishes in Japan, 2nd edn. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan.

14

Senou H. 2002. Syngnathidae. In: Fishes of Japan with pictorial keys to the species, English edition. Nakabo T, ed. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan, 520-536.

15

Sonoyama T, Ogimoto K, Hori S, Uchida Y and Kawano M. 2020. An annotated checklist of marine fishes of the Sea of Japan off Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, with 74 new records. Bulletin of the Kagoshima University Museum 11, 1-152.

16

Takata Y and Sasaki K. 2001. A Japanese pipefish, Halicampus punctatus (Kamohara): redescription and biological notes (Syngnathidae, Gasterosteiformes). Ichthyological Research 48, 315-318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-001-8152-3.

10.1007/s10228-001-8152-3
17

Thompson JD, Higgins DG and Gibson TJ. 1994. CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research 22, 4673-4680. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/22.22.4673.

10.1093/nar/22.22.46737984417PMC308517
18

Ward RD, Zemlak TS, Innes BH, Last PR and Hebert PDN. 2005. DNA barcoding Australia’s fish species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 360, 1847-1857. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1716.

10.1098/rstb.2005.171616214743PMC1609232
19

Yoon CH, Shim JH and Kim JJ. 2022. Pisces of Korea. Research Information Center, Seoul, Korea, 2148 p.

20

Zhang YH, Qin G, Zhang HX, Wang X and Lin Q. 2017. DNA barcoding reflects the diversity and variety of brooding traits of fish species in the family Syngnathidae along China’s coast. Fisheries Research 185, 137-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2016.09.015.

10.1016/j.fishres.2016.09.015
Information
  • Publisher :The Korean Society of Phycology
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국조류학회
  • Journal Title :Aquatic Nature
  • Journal Title(Ko) :수생생물
  • Volume : 5
  • No :2
  • Pages :29-35
  • Received Date : 2025-12-11
  • Revised Date : 2025-12-15
  • Accepted Date : 2025-12-15
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.23135/an.2025.5.2.2
Journal Informaiton Aquatic Nature Aquatic Nature
Online Submission
  • KISTI Current Status
  • KISTI Cited-by
  • open access
  • ccl
Journal Informaiton Journal Informaiton - close