Pseudolithoderma subextensum is a crustose brown algal species in the family Lithodermataceae and order Sphacelariales. This species is distributed in several regions across the world including, Europe, Western Atlantic, Middle East and Asia (Hong Kong and Japan). Recent floristic surveys along the Korean coastal shores have revealed new records of encrusting brown algae. In this study, we report P. subextensum as a new record from Korea. Morpho-anatomical and molecular studies on Ralfsia-like specimens from Korea identified some of them as P. subextensum. Pseudolithoderma subextensum is characterized by dark chestnut brown crust with a hypothallial basal layer and erect perithallial filaments, tufts of hairs occasionally arising from the basal layer, several discoid shaped chloroplasts per cell, plurangia arising terminally on erect filaments and without sterile cells, and unangia arising terminally on erect filaments, elongated cylindrical and without paraphyses. Phylogenetic analyses based on COI-5P (545bp) reveal that P. subextensum are nested within Lithodermataceae and forms the same clade with P. roscoffense. The genetic divergences for COI-5P between them is 24.5%.

1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
    2.1. Morphological analyses
    2.2. Molecular analyses
3. RESULTS
    3.1. Morphological observations
    3.2. Phylogenetic analysis
4. DISCUSSION
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Declaration of Competing Interest
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES

• Antony Otinga Oteng’o(Department of Biological Science, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea)
• Tae Oh Cho(Department of Biological Science, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea)
• Boo Yeon Won(Department of Biological Science, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea) Corresponding author