
Genetic study reveals close link between Irish and Northern Spanish specimens of the protected Lusitanian slug Geomalacus maculosus
Author(s) -
Reich Inga,
Gormally Michael,
Allcock A. Louise,
McDonnell Rory,
Castillejo José,
Iglesias Javier,
Quinteiro Javier,
Smith Cindy J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/bij.12568
Subject(s) - biology , allopatric speciation , haplotype , mitochondrial dna , genetic diversity , population , internal transcribed spacer , zoology , evolutionary biology , ribosomal rna , genetics , genotype , gene , demography , sociology
The slug Geomalacus maculosus is a prominent member of the Lusitanian fauna. As its global distribution is restricted to western Ireland and northern Iberia, it is protected under EU legislation. Nothing is known about the genetic variability and population structure of this species, so, with a special view to shedding light on the origin of the Irish G. maculosus , tissue samples from 78 specimens were collected from 13 locations within Ireland and ten locations within Iberia and partial sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 ( COI ) and from the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1 region ( ITS ‐1) were compared. The genetic diversity of the Irish G. maculosus was found to be greatly reduced compared with the Iberian populations, with only one (16S rRNA) and two ( COI ) mitochondrial haplotypes identified respectively. No private Irish ITS ‐1 haplotype was found. Based on the COI sequences, the Irish specimens clustered closest to Spanish specimens from Northern Asturias and Cantabria, and the bGMYC analysis identified five further Iberian clades that were highly genetically differentiated suggesting long‐term allopatric divergence.