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The complete mitochondrial genome of Leptychaster arcticus, deep-sea inhabited asteroid, was examined in this study. The complete mitogenome of L. arcticus is 16,253 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes. No gene rearrangements or deletions were observed in compared to other Paxillosida. The ND4L and ND3 genes have ‘ATT’ as its start codon, which is a feature that has been found in previous echinoderm mitochondrial studies. In the ML tree analysis based on the superorder Valvatacea, it was difficult to establish the molecular phylogenetic relationship at lower taxonomic levels, such as order and family, due to the lack of asteroid molecular data available. Therefore, we expect to contribute to the expansion of the data and determine the phylogenetic positioning in future studies.

In this study, aggregate and solitary zooids of salps were collected from Southern and East Sea of Korea. By morphological characteristic examinations, eight species in the subfamily Salpinae were identified as new records in Korean waters: Pegea bicaudata (Quoy and Gaimard 1826); Pegea confoederata (Forskal 1775); Ritteriella amboinensis (Apstein 1904); Ritteriella retracta (Ritter 1906); Salpa aspera Chamisso, 1819; Salpa maxima Forskal, 1775; Traustedtia multitentaculata (Quoy and Gaimard 1834); and Weelia cylindrica (Cuvier 1804). These species were redescribed and reported with illustrations of the photographs. There are 16 species from the subfamily Salpinae which were reported from Korea. Keywords: Korean waters, Morphologic identification, Salpinae species

Aggregate and solitary zooids of salps were collected from April 2001 to June 2009. By the analyses based on the morphological characteristics, four species in the genus Cyclosalpa of the subfamily Cyclosalpinae are identified as new records in Korean waters: Cyclosalpa affinis (Chamisso, 1819), Cyclosalpa bakeri Ritter, 1905, Cyclosalpa sewelli Metcalf, 1927, and Cyclosalpa polae Sigl, 1912. These species are re-described with illustrations and photographs in this study. In addition, a key to species of the genus Cyclosalpa in Korean waters and a key to the life cycles of Salpida are provided. As a result of this study twelve species in the Salpidae have been reported from Korea until now.