Latitudinal Variation of the Number of Species and Species Diversity in Shelled Gastropods of Eastern Coast of Korea

In the present study we examined latitudinal trend of the number of species and species diversity of rocky subtidal shelled gastropods. Specimens were sampled from four wave-exposed sites along the eastern coast of Korea between Sockcho (38°14″N) and Busan (35°06″N), covering a range of over ca. 440 km and 4° of latitude. At a small local scale, the number of species showed a latitudinal trend, decreased with decreasing of latitude, even though no clear trends in species diversity were detected. The present result, consequently, suggest that regulation of small-scale local diversity presumably results from the difference of the local micro-environment.22Nkciothe