• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2010

Seogundo is a small island adjacent to the southern coast of Jeju Island and connected to it by a boulder beach at low tide Surveys of this area were conducted from 2001 to 2009 to enumerate the mollusks there and also to examine their diversity, relative abundance, and ecological relationships. Both the boulder beach itself and several large tide pools were studied, including the coarse sand substrate and several species of seaweed and coralline algae found in the tide pools. Of the 121 species obtained or observed, there were 97 gastropods, 16 bivalves, and 8 polyplacophorans. Live specimens were obtained for about half of those species. About one third were found on rocky substrate, with the most common species being Nodilittorina radiata and Nerita japonica in the upper intertidal zone, N. radiata and Littorina brevicula in the middle intertidal, and Turbo (Lunella) coronata coreensis and Acanthopleura japonica in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal. The seaweeds and coralline algae contained about 40% of all mollusk species. The most common mollusks in two species of brown seaweed were Ittibittum parcum, Musculus nanus, and Euplica scripta. In a species of red seaweed, Komaitrochus pulcher was the most frequent, as in the coralline algae, along with M. nanus. The coarse sand in the tidepools contained about 25% of the species, with the Cerithiidae having the largest number. A sample of beach drift contained 17 species, with Bittium aleutaceum and Rissoina (Phosinella) pura being most common. Most species, about 60%, were found in a variety of habitats, especially the marine flora; few species exhibited any habitat preferences. Biographically, Jeju Island is part of the Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific Province and the East China Sea ecoregion with a strong faunal affinity with southern Japan, eastern China, and northeastern Taiwan. Zonal-geographical groupings reveal that the fauna is mainly subtropical-low boreal, preferring moderately warm water, with a somewhat smaller number of tropical-subtropical species.