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L. maculatus could be distinguished from L. japonicus by body depth and the number of dorsal fin rays. Based on isozyme analysis, Park et al. (1996) revealed that SSB might be either a distinct species or subspecies. Kim and Jun (1997) indicated that SSB could be distinguished from SB by the number of gill rakers, body depth, and eye diameter. Furthermore, Kang (2000) reported that SSB was a distinct species (L. maculatus), different from L. japonicus in the number of vertebrae and gill rakers.
The spawning periods for the 2 spp are distinct:
L. japonicus during winter (December - March; Kang et al., 2002); found
throughout Japan (off all coasts) and Korea (usually off the southern coast);
L. maculatus autumn (October - November; Kim et al., 2001); widely distributed and are found in Japan (only in the Ariake Sea and off Nagasaki), China (off all coasts), Taiwan, and Korea (usually off the southern and western coasts) (Yokogawa and Seki, 1995; Kang, 2000; Liu et al., 2006).
Waters off Korea represent a boundary region between the distributions of the 2 spp. |