Abstract
Previous allozyme analyses of the hermaphroditic terrestrial slugs Arion fasciatus, A. circumscriptus and A. silvaticus (subgenus Carinarion) have suggested that in North America these species are each single monomorphic strains. However, new data on 18 putative enzyme loci show that in western Europe the three taxa, respectively, consist of at least three, two and 12 homozygous multilocus genotypes (strains), which regularly co-occur. The current opinion that American and European Carinarion populations are similarly structured, and that colonization events did not affect the population genetics of North American Carinarion, should therefore be readdressed. The present data also provide the first indication of heterozygosity and possible outcrossing in Carinarion. Nevertheless, uniparental reproduction is confirmed as the main breeding system in West European Carinarion, although the high incidence of multistrain populations in A. silvaticus and A. fasciatus appears at variance with the current model of population genetic structuring in selfing terrestrial pulmonates. Finally, the systematic status of the three Carinarion spp. is tentatively questioned.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Armbruster, G, and Schlegel, M. 1994. The land-snail species of Cochlicopa (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Cochli-copidae): presentation of taxon-specific allozyme patterns, and evidence for a high level of self-fertilization. J Zool Syst Evol Res, 32, 282–296.
Backeljau, T. 1987. Electrophoretic distinction between Arion hortensis, A. distinctus and A. owenii (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Zool Anz, 219, 33–39.
Backeljau, T, and De Bruyn, L. 1991. Preliminary report on the genetic variability of Arion intermedius in Europe (Pulmonata). J Med Appl Malacol, 3, 19–29.
Backeljau, T, and De Winter, A J. 1987. An electrophoretic characterisation of three paratypes of Arion fagophilus De Winter, 1986, with notes on the subgeneric division of the genus Arion Férussac, 1819 (Mollusca, Pulmonata). Z Zool Syst Evolut-forsch, 25, 169–180.
Backeljau, T, Ahmadyar, S Z, Selens, M, Van Rompaey, J, and Verheyen, W. 1987. Comparative electrophoretic analyses of three European Carinarion species (Mollusca, Pulmonata, Arionidae). Zool Scr, 16, 209–222.
Backeljau, T, De Brito, C P, Tristā Da Cunha, R M, Frias Martins, A M, and De Bruyn, L. 1992. Colour polymorphism and genetic strains in Arion intermedius from Flores, Azores (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Biol J Linn Soc, 46, 131–143.
Baur, B, and Klemm, M. 1989. Absence of isozyme variation in geographically isolated populations of the land snail Chondrina clienta. Heredity, 63, 239–244.
Chichester, L F, and Getz, L L. 1969. The zoogeography and ecology of arionid and limacid slugs introduced into northeastern North America. Malacologia, 7, 313–346.
Coyne, J A, Eanes, W F, Ramshaw, J A M, and Koehn, R K. 1979. Electrophoretic heterogeneity of α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase among many species of Drosophila. Syst Zool, 28, 164–175.
Dolan, S, and Fleming, C C. 1988. Isoenzymes in the identification and systematics of terrestrial slugs of the Arion hortensis complex. Biochem Syst Ecol, 16, 195–198.
Foltz, D W, Ochman, H, Jones, J S, Evangelisti, S M, and Selander, R K. 1982. Genetic population structure and breeding systems in arionid slugs (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Biol J Linn. Soc., 17, 225–241.
Foltz, D W, Ochman, H, and Selander, R K. 1984. Genetic diversity and breeding systems in terrestrial slugs of the families Limacidae and Arionidae. Malacologia, 25, 593–605.
Harris, H, and Hopkinson, D A. 1976. Handbook of Enzyme Electrophoresis in Human Genetics. Elsevier/North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.
Hoffmann, R J. 1983. The mating system of the terrestrial slug Deroceras laeve. Evolution, 37, 423–425.
Jarne, P, and Charlesworth, D. 1993. The evolution of the selfing rate in functionally hermaphrodite plants and animals. Ann Rev Ecol Syst, 24, 441–466.
Jarne, P, and Städler, T. 1995. Population genetic structure and mating system evolution in freshwater pulmonates. Experientia, 51, 482–497.
Kerney, M P, Cameron, R A D, and Jungbluth, J H. 1983. Die Landschnecken Nord- und Mitteleuropas. Paul Parey, Hamburg.
Lohmander, H. 1937. Ueber die nordischen Formen von Arion circumscriptus Johnston. Acta Soc Fauna Flora Fenn, 60, 90–112.
McCracken, G F, and Selander, R K. 1980. Self-fertilization and monogenic strains in natural populations of terrestrial slugs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 77, 684–688.
Mogie, M. 1986. Automixis: its distribution and status. Biol J Linn Soc, 28, 321–329.
Nei, M. 1972. Genetic distance between populations. Am Nat, 106, 283–292.
Nei, M. 1978. Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics, 89, 583–590.
Nicklas, N L, and Hoffmann, R J. 1981. Apomictic parthenogenesis in a hermaphroditic terrestrial slug, Deroceras laeve (Müller). Biol Bull, 160, 123–135.
Ota, T. 1993. DISPAN: Genetic distance and phylogenetic analysis, version 1.1. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Selander, R K, and Hudson, R O. 1976. Animal population structure under close inbreeding: the land snail Rumina in southern France. Am Nat, 110, 695–718.
Selander, R K, and Kaufman, D W. 1973. Self-fertilization and genetic population structure in a colonizing land snail. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 70, 1186–1190.
Selander, R K, and Ochman, H. 1983. The genetic structure of populations as illustrated by molluscs. In: Rattazzi, M. C., Scandalios, J. C. Z. and Whitt, G. S. (eds) Isozymes: Current Topics in Biological and Medical Research, vol 10: Genetics and Evolution, pp. 93–123. Alan R. Liss, New York.
Swofford, D L, and Selander, R B. 1981. BIOSYS-1: A FORTRAN program for the comprehensive analysis of electrophoretic data in population genetics and systematics. J Hered, 72, 281–283.
Tompa, A S. 1984. Land snails (Stylommatophora). In: Tompa, A. S., Verdonk, N. H. and Van Den Biggelaar, J. A. M. (eds) The Mollusca, vol 7, Reproduction, pp. 47–140. Academic Press, Orlando, FL.
Waldén, H W. 1955. The land Gastropoda of the vicinity of Stockholm. Ark Zool, 7, 391–448.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Backeljau, T., de Bruyn, L., de Wolf, H. et al. Allozyme diversity in slugs of the Carinarion complex (Mollusca, Pulmonata). Heredity 78, 445–451 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1997.68
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1997.68
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Taxonomic and population genetic re-interpretation of two color morphs of the decollate snail, Rumina decollata (Mollusca, Pulmonata) in southern France
Genetica (2013)
-
The genetic dynamics of the rapid and recent colonization of Denmark by Arion lusitanicus (Mollusca, Pulmonata, Arionidae)
Genetica (2011)
-
Fifteen microsatellite loci for the decollate snail, Rumina decollata
Conservation Genetics Resources (2010)