2026/06/02 by Kyung-Hoon Jeong, Danilo Harms, Sora Kim · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Marine Sponges and Natural Products #Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies #Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
paper · doi:10.7717/peerj.21332
openalex publication_date 2026/06/02 · openalex created_date 2026/06/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Allochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) is a genus widely distributed throughout East Asia. In Korea, only three species in this genus have been recorded to date: Allochthonius buanensis Lee, 1982; Allochthonius coreanus Morikawa, 1970; and Allochthonius opticus Ellingsen, 1907. Here, we review the Korean fauna of Allochthonius and describe three new species for the country: Allochthonius jungsuni sp. nov. , Allochthonius maximus sp. nov. , and Allochthonius rufimanus sp. nov . We also exclude Allochthonius opticus –a species originally described from Japan—from the country record and redescribe two Korean recorded species, Allochthonius buanensis and Allochthonius coreanus . Following up on our previous taxonomic work that elevated several subspecies of Japanese pseudotyrannochthoniids originally described by Kuniyasu Morikawa to species level, we elevate eight former subspecies to full species rank: A. ishikawai deciclavatus Morikawa, 1956 = A. deciclavatus Morikawa, 1956, stat. nov. , A. ishikawai ishikawai Morikawa, 1954 = A. ishikawai Morikawa, 1954, A. ishikawai kyushuensis Morikawa, 1960 = A. kyushuensis Morikawa, 1960, stat. nov. , A. ishikawai shiragatakiensis Morikawa, 1954 = A. shiragatakiensis Morikawa, 1954, stat. nov. , A. ishikawai uenoi Morikawa, 1956 = A. uenoi Morikawa, 1956, stat. nov. , and A. ishikawai uyamadensis Morikawa, 1954 = A. uyamadensis Morikawa, 1954, stat. nov. ; A. opticus opticus Ellingsen, 1907 = A. opticus Ellingsen, 1907, and A. opticus troglophilus Morikawa, 1956 = A. troglophilus Morikawa, 1956, stat. nov. . This elevates the total number of Allochthonius species from 40 to 43, of which five species are presently known from the Korean Peninsula.