Abstract
Ribbed mussels (232 in all) representing the nominal species Geukensia demissa (Dillwyn, 1817) were collected at nine coastal North American locations (two Pacific, four Atlantic and three Gulf Coast locations) between January 1990 and September 1991, and examined for nine shell characters and for variation at 18 allozyme loci. Two genetically-differentiated groups were identified and called demissa-type and granosissima-type mussles, based on similarity of geographic range to previously recognized subspecies of G. demissa. There was very little genetic differentiation of populations over moderate to large (3000 km) distances along the Atlantic coast (for demissa-type mussels), along the Gulf Coast (for granosissima-type mussels), or between Pacific and Atlantic populations of demissa-type mussles. The two types of mussels were differentiated genetically (Nei's unbiased genetic distance =0.55±0.20) at a level characteristic of separate species in other molluscan taxa, and to a lesser extent were differentiated morphologically. We recommend that the two types of mussels be treated as separate species within the genus Geukensia: G. demissa (Dillwyn, 1817) and G. granosissima (Sowerby, 1914).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Abbott, R. T. (1974). American seashells; the marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America. 2nd ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York
Andrews, J. (1977). Shells and shores of Texas. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas
Avise, J. C., Ball, R. M. (1990). Principles of genealogical concordance in species concepts and biological taxonomy. Oxf. Surv. evolut. Biol. 7: 45–67
Balakirev, E. S., Zaykin, D. V. (1990). Allozyme variability of formaldehyde dehydrogenase — a new gene marker in marine invertebrates. Isozyme Bull. 23: p. 91
Beaumont, A. R., Seed, R., Garcia-Martinez, P. (1989). Electrophoretic and morphometric criteria for the identification of the mussels Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis. Proc. Eur. mar. Biol. Symp. 23: 251–258. [Ryland, J. S., Tyler, P. A. (eds.) Olsen & Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark]
Berger, E. M. (1983). Population genetics of marine gastropods and bivalves. In: Russell-Hunter, W. D. (ed.) The Mollusca. Vol. 6. Ecology. Academic Press, New York, p. 563–596
Blackwell, J. F., Gainey, L. F., Greenberg, M. J. (1977). Shell ultrastructure in two subspecies of the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa (Dillwyn, 1817). Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 152: 1–11
Briggs, J. C. (1974). Marine zoogeography. McGraw-Hill, New York
Chaisson, R. E., Serunian, L. A., Schopf, T. J. M. (1976). Allozyme variation between two marshes and possible heterozygote superiority within a marsh in the bivale Modiolus demissus. [Abstr.] Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 151: p. 404
Dillwyr, L. W. (1817). A descriptive catalogue of recent shells arranged according to the Linnean method; with particular attention to the synonymy. Vol. 1. J. & A. Arch, London
Garthwaite, R. (1986). The genetics of California populations of Geukensia demissa (Dillwyn) (Mollusca): further evidence on the selective importance of leucine aminopeptidase variation in salinity acclimation. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 28: 343–358
Garthwaite, R. L. (1989). Leucine aminopeptidase variation and fitness parameters in the estuarine bivalve Geukensia demissa. Mar. Biol. 103: 183–192
Hillis, D. M., Dixon, M. T., Jones, A. L. (1991). Minimal genetic variation in a morphologically diverse species (Florida tree snail, Liguus fasciatus). J. Hered. 82: 282–286
Koehn, R. K. (1991). The genetics and taxonomy of species in the genus Mytilus. Aquaculture, Amsterdam 94: 125–145
Koehn, R. K., Turano, F. J., Mitton, J. B. (1973). Population genetics of marine pelecypods. II. Genetic differences in microhabitats of Modiolus demissus. Evolution 27: 100–105
Liu, L. L., Foltz, D. W., Stickle, W. B. (1991). Genetic population structure of the southern oyster drill Stramonita (= Thais) haemostoma. Mar. Biol. 111: 71–79
Livingstone, D. R., Stickle, W. B., Kapper, M. A., Wang, S., Zurburg, W. (1990). Further studies on the phylogenetic distribution of pyruvate oxidoreductase activities. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 97B: 661–666
Marcus, L. F. (1990). Traditional morphometrics. Spec. Publ. Univ. Mich. Mus. Zool. 2: 77–122
Munksgaard, C. (1990). Electrophoretic separation of morphologically similar species of the genus Rissoa (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia). Ophelia 31: 97–104
Murphy, R. W., Sites, J. W., Buth, D. G., Haufler, C. H. (1990). Proteins I: Isozyme electrophoresis. In: Hillis, D. M., Moritz, C. (eds.) Molecular systematics. Sinauer, Sunderland, Massachusetts, p. 45–126
Nei, M. (1978). Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics, Austin, Tex. 89: 583–590
Ó Foighil, D., Eernisse, D. J. (1988). Geographically widespread, non-hybridizing sympatric strains of the hermaphroditic, brooding clam Lasaea in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 175: 218–229
Palmer, A. R., Gayron, S. D., Woodruff, D. S. (1990). Reproductive, morphological, and genetic evidence for two cryptic species of northeastern Pacific Nucella. Veliger 33: 325–338
Poel, L. V. (1959). Faune malacologique du Hervien. Troisième note. Bull. Inst. r. Sci. nat. Belg. 35(15): 1–26
Richardson, B. J., Baverstock, P. R., Adams, M. (1986). Allozyme electrophoresis: a handbook for animal systematics and population studies. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida
SAS Institute Inc. (1985). SAS user's guide: statistics. Version 5 ed. SAS Institute Inc. Cary, North Carolina
Schopf, T. J. M., Ohman M. D., Bleiweiss, R. (1975). Significant age-dependent and locality-dependent changes occur in gene frequencies in the ribbed mussel Modiolus demissus from a single salt marsh. [Abstr.]. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 149: p. 446
Shaklee, J. B., Allendorf, F. W., Morizot, D. C., Whitt, G. S. (1990). Gene nomenclature for protein-coding loci in fish. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 119: 2–15
Sowerby, G. B. (1914). Descriptions of new species of Mollusca from New Caledonia, Japan, and other localities. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 11: 5–10
Väinölä, R., Hvilsom, M. M. (1991). Genetic divergence and a hybrid zone between Baltic and North Sea Mytilus populations (Mytilidae: Mollusca). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 43: 127–148
Väinölä, R., Varvio, S.-L. (1989). Biosystematics of Macoma balthica in northwestern Europe. Proc. Eur. mar. Biol. Symp. 23: 309–316. [Ryland, J. S., Tyler, P. A. (eds.) Olsen & Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark]
Weir, B. S., Cockerham, C. C. (1984). Estimating F-statistics for the analysis of population structure. Evolution 38: 1358–1370
Wiley, E. O. (1981). Phylogenetics: the theory and practice of phylogenetic systematics. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Woodruff, D. S., Staub, K. C., Upatham, E. S., Viyanant, V., Yuan, H.-C. (1988). Genetic variation in Oncomelania hupensis: Schistosoma japonicum transmitting snails in China and the Philippines are distinct species. Malacologia 29: 347–361
Wright, S. (1978). Evolution and the genetics of populations. Vol 4. Variability within and among natural populations. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Young, J. P. W., Koehn, R. K., Arheim, N. (1979). Biochemical characterization of “LAP,” a polymorphic aminopeptidase from the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis. Biochem. Genet. 17: 305–323
Zouros, E., Foltz, D. W. (1984). Possible explantations of heterozygote deficiency in bivalve molluses. Malacologia 25: 583–591
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sarver, S.K., Landrum, M.C. & Foltz, D.W. Genetics and taxonomy of ribbed mussels (Geukensia spp.). Marine Biology 113, 385–390 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349163
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349163