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The systematic status of the lagoon periwinkle, Littorina tenebrosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1999

Iain F. Wilson ,
Elizabeth M. Gosling  and
William Tapper
Iain F. Wilson
Affiliation:
School of Science, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, and Microbiology Department, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
Elizabeth M. Gosling
Affiliation:
School of Science, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, and Microbiology Department, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
William Tapper
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University College of Wales, Swansea, SA2 8PP
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Abstract

Eight samples of Littorina tenebrosa and L. saxatilis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Ireland and Britain, including pairs of each form from two locations in Ireland, were screened for genetic variation at 12 polymorphic enzyme loci using starch gel electrophoresis. Levels of polymorphism and heterozygosity were similar in L. tenebrosa and L. saxatilis, apart from a sample of L. tenebrosa from Britain which was less polymorphic than the Irish samples. No alleles were found to be unique to either form. Phylogenetic analysis using UPGMA showed that L. saxatilis and L. tenebrosa populations clustered as a monophyletic group. Nevertheless, the mean genetic distance between parapatric populations of L. saxatilis and L. tenebrosa (D=0.076) was similar to the mean for allopatric populations of either species (D=0.080). This indicates that there is a barrier to gene flow between the two forms Despite this, L. tenebrosa does not merit specific status since populations of this snail do not cluster as a distinct group, separate from L. saxatilis populations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 79 , Issue 4 , August 1999 , pp. 653 - 660
Copyright
© 1999 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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