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Completely disjunct mitochondrial DNA haplotype distribution without a phylogeographic break in a planktonic developing gastropod

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Abstract

Planktonic developing organisms are generally assumed to be good dispersers showing little genetic structuring in neutral markers. At first glance, this also applies to the planktonic developing periwinkle Tectarius striatus, an endemic gastropod from Macaronesia (i.e. Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands), where the only sign of genetic structuring hitherto is provided by a non-significant allozyme/RAPD heterogeneity between the Cape Verde Islands and the other archipelagos. However, partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase I genes now show that the Cape Verde Islands and the three other archipelagos have no haplotypes in common, whereas the latter three do share several haplotypes. Nevertheless, this highly disjunct haplotype distribution does not entail a phylogeographic break separating the haplotypes of both areas in two reciprocally monophyletic groups. This remarkable geographic and phylogenetic structuring may be explained by assuming that T. striatus colonized the Macaronesian archipelagos in periods when sea levels were lower (and/or volcanic activity was higher), so that seamounts peaked above sea level and could act as stepping-stones. Yet, after the last glacial period seamounts submerged, thus preventing further stepping-stones mediated dispersal of T. striatus between the Cape Verde Islands and the other archipelagos, while not affecting dispersal among the latter because of their closer proximity and connectivity. Hence, these contrasting patterns of neutral genetic variation in T. striatus show that genetic structuring in planktonic developing species may be far more complex than is usually assumed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the following grants to T. Backeljau: EU-project EVK3-2001-00048 “EUMAR”, OSTC-project MO/36/008, FWO-project G.0235.02, and UA-project RAFO/1 BACKT KP02. H. De Wolf is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders (Belgium) (F.W.O.). This paper benefited from discussions during the CORONA-meeting in Plymouth (2004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Malacology Section, Department of Invertebrates, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Heidi Van den Broeck, Karin Breugelmans & Thierry Backeljau

  2. Laboratory for Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium

    Heidi Van den Broeck & Hans De Wolf

  3. Evolutionary Biology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium

    Thierry Backeljau

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  1. Heidi Van den Broeck
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Correspondence to Heidi Van den Broeck.

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Communicated by M. Wahl.

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Van den Broeck, H., Breugelmans, K., De Wolf, H. et al. Completely disjunct mitochondrial DNA haplotype distribution without a phylogeographic break in a planktonic developing gastropod. Mar Biol 153, 421–429 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0820-z

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