DNA Barcoding of the Marine Protected Species Parasesarma bidens (Decapoda: Sesarmidea) from the Korean Waters

Parasesarma bidens (De Haan, 1835) has been designated as a marine protected species by the Act on conservation and management of marine ecosystems. This crab has been recorded only from Jeju-do and Geomun-do, Republic of Korea. In this study, we describe for the first time the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of P. bidens. The intra-specific genetic distance among the Korean populations and between the Korean and Chinese populations ranged from 0% to 0.9% and 1.9% to 2.7%, respectively. The inter-specific genetic distances among the four Parasesarma species ranged from 10.9% to 12.8%. The finding of this study will be helpful to better describe P. bidens using COI DNA barcodes and can be used as basic data for their restoration and conservation research.