First Record of Rhopilema esculentum (Scyphozoa, Rhizostomae), Edible Jellyfish in Korea

A species of edible Scyphomedusae jellyfish has been used as food by the local people in Ganghwado, Korea since the 1990s. In order to identify this jellyfish, we collected specimens in Ganghwado during September 2013, and compared these specimens with original descriptions made by Kishinouye (1890). Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) sequences of these specimens were compared with those of Rhopilema esculentum retrieved from GenBank. Our specimens were also compared with jellyfish collected in China, previously confirmed as R. esculentum, based on morphological characters and DNA sequences. Using these two methods, the jellyfish specimens caught in Ganghwado were correctly identified as R. esculentum, a species new to Korean waters. This edible jellyfish has been named ‘Gisusik-Yonghaepari’ as Korean name.