Biochemical Variation and Systematic Status of the Genus Agkistrodon (Crotalidae) in Korea

韓國産 살모사 屬에 關한 遺傳的 變異 및 系流學的 硏究

A total of 352 specimens of congeneric species of Agkistrodon was collected and morphometric analysis and starch-gel electrophoresis were carried out in order to investigate the taxonomic status of this genus. The results obtained in this study are as follows: Morphometric analysis 1. Three species are recognized based on Gloyd's criteria. There was no specimen that was doubtful to classify correctly. Therefore, it seems that Gloyd's morphological characters are good criteria to identify each species. 2. All three species are sympatric at two localities (Mt. Seolag, Gangwon-do, and Mt. Deogyu, Jeonra-bugdo) and A. caligino년 and A. b. brevicaudus are sympatric at Gwangneung and Mt. Yongmun, Gyonggi-do. No hybrids were found in these sympatric localities. 3. Notable sexual dimorphism was found in meristic characters. 4. A. saxatilis has signicantly more number of ventrals and shorter tail ratio than other two species. 5. There were no significant meristic character differences between A. caligino년 and A. b. brevicaudus. Genetic analysis 1. Among 26 loci investigated, 12 loci (46.1%) were identical in their mobility, 4 loci (15.4%) were nearly identical with minor frequency differences, and 10 loci (38.5%) showed interspecific mobility difference. 2. The average proportion of polymorphic loci was 9.03%. This is considerably less than that of other vertebrates. 3. The average S and D values between species are .695 and .342 respectively. These values indicate that three taxa are distinct species. 4. A. caliginosus is genetically more related to A. saxatilis than to Agkistrodon, namely A. b. brevicaudus, A. caligino년 and A. saxatilis, as proposed by Gloyd. Far from being mere morphological variants, as suggested by Kang and Yoon (1975), they are highly distinctive evolutionary units.