About

Choong-Jin Chang is a professor on the viola faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, appointed in September 2013. A native of Seoul, Korea, he made his debut as a 12-year-old violinist with the Seoul Philharmonic after winning the grand prize in Korea’s Yook Young National Competition. At the age of 13, he moved to the United States to attend the Juilliard School. He further studied at the Esther Boyer College of Music of Temple University in Philadelphia and at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he earned degrees in both violin and viola under the guidance of Jascha Brodsky and Joseph de Pasquale. Chang served as principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra for 12 years prior to his appointment at Peabody.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Fishery
• Biology

Selected publications

• The pseudoscorpion family Garypidae (Pseudoscorpiones) of Taiwan: a new species in the newly recorded genus Anchigarypus and the first females of Garypus wilsoni and Garypus sanasai

  Zoosystematics and Evolution · 2025-10-13

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Pseudoscorpions are a group of arachnids that inhabit various habitats, but only a few species occur in the intertidal zone, where their dispersal is presumably facilitated by ocean currents. In Taiwan, only two coastal species, Garypus wilsoni Lin & Chang, 2022 and Garypus sanasai Lin, Huang & Chang, 2022, have been formally recorded. In this study, we document the first record of the genus Anchigarypus Harvey, 2020, describe a new species, Anchigarypus longimanus sp. nov. , report its molting nest, and provide the first identification key for the species of Anchigarypus worldwide. We also provide the first descriptions of female specimens of G. wilsoni and G. sanasai .

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A re-examination of the pheretimoid earthworms reported in James et al. (2005), false synonymy between Drawida barwelli (Beddard, 1886) and Drawida beddardi (Rosa, 1890) and comments on recent publications on East and Southeast Asian earthworms

  European Journal of Taxonomy · 2025-03-10 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  A re-examination of the “known species” of the pheretimoid earthworms reported in James et al. (2005) from southern Taiwan results in the discovery of four new species of the genus Amynthas, namely A. chungchi sp. nov., A. kendingensis sp. nov., A. jioupengensis sp. nov. and A. lilis sp. nov. All these new species were wrongly identified as A. corticis (Kinberg, 1867). Additionally, five specimens of A. nanrenensis James, Shih & Chang, 2005 and three specimens of Metaphire houlleti (Perrier, 1872) are found to be misidentified as A. corticis and M. californica (Kinberg, 1867), respectively, by James et al. (2005). Drawida beddardi (Rosa, 1890) is a false synonym of D. barwelli (Beddard, 1886), as the former has simple and straight sperm ducts and spermathecal ducts, while the latter has long and coiled ones. Both Amynthas triastriatus usualis Dong, Jiang, Yuan, Zhao & Qiu, 2020 and Metaphire remanens Jin, Jiang, Li & Qiu, 2022 are nomenclaturally unavailable names, since they were published in electronic journals without ZooBank registration, and there is no explicit statement on the deposition of the type material for each of the taxa. Metaphire guillelmi (Michaelsen, 1895) listed in Nguyen et al. (2016, 2020) is a misidentification and needs to be re-examined. Errors and problems identified in recent publications on East and Southeast Asian earthworms are discussed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A new earthworm species of the genus Amynthas (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) from northern Taiwan, false synonymy between Amynthas corticis (Kinberg, 1867) and Amynthas sheni (Chen, 1935) and other taxonomic issues relating to A. corticis

  Zootaxa · 2025-02-19 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  This study describes a new species of earthworms belonging to the genus Amynthas (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) from northern Taiwan. It is named Amynthas popi sp. nov. It is a large earthworm with four pairs of spermathecal pores in 5/6-8/9. It has a postsetal papilla medial to each male porophore and papillae closely or widely paired in presetal VIII, widely paired in postsetal XIX, and occasionally more closely paired in presetal XIX. Its compact prostate glands together with short, stout and horizontal prostatic ducts are rarely seen among the native Amynthas earthworms known from Taiwan. Amynthas sheni (Chen, 1935) is a false synonym of Amynthas corticis (Kinberg, 1867) as the former has postsetal papillae on ventrum of VIII and occasionally also on IX, four pairs of esophageal hearts in X-XIII, well-developed prostate glands in XVI-XXI and long, U-curved prostatic ducts, which clearly set it apart from the latter. Other taxonomic issues relating to A. corticis are discussed. Additionally, Amynthas jampeanus fumigatus (Michaelsen, 1899) should be regarded as a subspecies of Amynthas bonthainensis (Benham, 1896) since it bears a very close resemblance to A. bonthainensis than to Amynthas jampeanus (Benham, 1896). The following combination is proposed: Amynthas bonthainensis fumigatus (Michaelsen, 1899) comb. nov.

  PublisherDOI

• A temperate group living in the subtropics: evolutionary history and integrative taxonomy of the pseudoscorpion genus Allochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) in Taiwan

  Organisms Diversity & Evolution · 2025-12-18

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Cryptic Diversity of the Terrestrial Microarthropods, <i>Ptenothrix</i> Börner (Collembola: Dicyrtomidae) from Taiwan: New Species Plus the Lectotype Designation for <i>Ptenothrix denticulata</i> (Folsom, 1899).

  PubMed · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  (Salmon 1964) (syn. nov.). Lastly, our study suggests that the diversity of Collembola in Taiwan is still poorly understood, with a high potential for new studies focusing on these microarthropods.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An appeal to soil invertebrate collectors: don’t discard your [earthworm] samples, forward them!

  Biodiversity · 2024-10-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A review of the earthworm Amynthas masatakae (Beddard, 1892) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae), with designation of two new synonyms

  Biodiversity Data Journal · 2024-05-09 · 3 citations

  reviewOpen access1st author

  Correct and timely identification of an invasive species during quarantine or at an early stage of invasion before establishment or spread is critical for preventing biological invasions. However, taxonomic confusion of potential invasive earthworm species caused by incorrect taxonomic treatment or reckless taxonomic work has made it difficult to properly recognize potential invasion threats. Through analyzing publicly available DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, we confirmed the validity of the specific status of Amynthas masatakae (Beddard, 1892), a peregrine earthworm species in East Asia with the potential to spread to other regions of the world, and designated two new synonyms of A. masatakae : Amynthas tralfamadore Blakemore, 2012 syn. nov. and Amynthas scaberulus Sun and Jiang, 2021 syn. nov. Additionally, the name A. triastriatus usualis Dong, Jiang, Yuan, Zhao and Qiu, 2020 is nomenclaturally unavailable since it was published in an electronic journal without ZooBank registration and an explicit statement establishing a new nominal taxon. Specimens described under this unavailable name actually belong to A. masatakae . Inadequate literature review and erroneous species identities associated with sequences in GenBank have caused even more problems in the already confusing earthworm taxonomy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Data for "Acute resource pulses from periodical cicadas propagate to belowground food webs but do not affect tree performance"

  Figshare · 2022-01-01

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  The influence of resource pulse induced by periodical cicada bodies on soil fauna (nematodes and mites) communities, decomposition, soil nutrients, soil C and N, and American sycamore tree performance. See the "Metadata" tab in the Excel file for more details.

  PublisherDOI

• An updated checklist of Collembola in Taiwan, with DNA barcoding of Papirioides jacobsoni Folsom, 1924 (Symphypleona, Dicyrtomidae)

  ZooKeys · 2022-10-04 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  From urban green space to pristine forest, Collembola is one of the most numerous and species-rich members of the soil fauna around the world. However, due to lack of taxonomic expertise and research, its diversity is poorly understood, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Collembola biodiversity studies in Taiwan have not seen much progress since 1981, when Hsin Chi reviewed 26 species belonging to 20 genera and eight families. Additionally, reports of new records in Taiwan in the last 40 years are scattered amongst several publications and not easily accessible to most end-users. Thus, a concise summary of related research is urgently needed. In this study, we updated the checklist of Collembola in Taiwan, based on published papers as well as images recorded in 2020–2022. We concluded that 58 species of Collembola belonging to 31 genera and 12 families have been reported in Taiwan, including 13 newly-recorded species. This species richness marks a 123% increase from the 1981 review. The results have been made publicly available in the Catalog of Life in Taiwan database and the images recorded have been used to update species information in collembola.org. We also characterised morphological and genetic variations in the globular springtail species Papirioides jacobsoni Folsom, 1924 using DNA barcodes and highlighted potential research directions.

  PublisherDOI

• Global monitoring of soil animal communities using a common methodology

  Jyväskylä University Digital Archive (University of Jyväskylä) · 2022-04-01 · 14 citations

  articleOpen access

  Here we introduce the Soil BON Foodweb Team, a cross-continental collaborative network that aims to monitor soil animal communities and food webs using consistent methodology at a global scale. Soil animals support vital soil processes via soil structure modification, consumption of dead organic matter, and interactions with microbial and plant communities. Soil animal effects on ecosystem functions have been demonstrated by correlative analyses as well as in laboratory and field experiments, but these studies typically focus on selected animal groups or species at one or few sites with limited variation in environmental conditions. The lack of comprehensive harmonised large-scale soil animal community data including microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna, in conjunction with related soil functions, microbial communities, and vegetation, limits our understanding of biological interactions in soil systems and how these interactions affect ecosystem functioning. To provide such data, the Soil BON Foodweb Team invites researchers worldwide to use a common methodology to address six long-term goals: (1) to collect globally representative harmonised data on soil micro-, meso-, and macrofauna communities, (2) to describe key environmental drivers of soil animal communities and food webs, (3) to assess the efficiency of conservation approaches for the protection of soil animal communities, (4) to describe soil food webs and their association with soil functioning globally, (5) to establish a global research network for soil biodiversity monitoring and collaborative projects in related topics, (6) to reinforce local collaboration networks and expertise and support capacity building for soil animal research around the world. In this paper, we describe the vision of the global research network and the common sampling protocol to assess soil animal communities and advocate for the use of standard methodologies across observational and experimental soil animal studies. We will use this protocol to conduct soil animal assessments and reconstruct soil food webs at sites associated with the global soil biodiversity monitoring network, Soil BON, allowing us to assess linkages among soil biodiversity, vegetation, soil physico-chemical properties, climate, and ecosystem functions. In the present paper, we call for researchers especially from countries and ecoregions that remain underrepresented in the majority of soil biodiversity assessments to join us. Together we will be able to provide science-based evidence to support soil biodiversity conservation and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Huei‐Ping Shen

  Natural History Museum

  21 shared

• Katalin Szlávecz

  18 shared

• Lise Dupont

  Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

  16 shared

• Jiun‐Hong Chen

  National Sun Yat-sen University

  15 shared

• Csaba Csuzdi

  Eszterhazy Karoly Catholic University

  15 shared

• Thibaud Decaëns

  Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive

  10 shared

• Emma Sherlock

  Natural History Museum

  10 shared

• S. Pitz

  Johns Hopkins University

  9 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

  Johns Hopkins University

  2015