Phenotypic and genetic differentiation between two chromosomal taxa of the gastropod <i>Nucella lapillus</i> at Galician rocky shores (NW Spain).

ABSTRACT: In certain North Atlantic rocky shores, 2 chromosomal lineages of Nucella lapillus have been observed at different extremes of an environmental gradient. Here, we have determined the presence of this chromosomal polymorphism, resulting from Robertsonian translocations, in populations of the Iberian Peninsula spanning a similar gradient. Interestingly, we have found monomorphic populations (2n = 26) across the gradient while we only found polymorphic populations (2n = 27-36) in certain exposed microhabitats, and never both types of populations together. These chromosomal lineages differ morphologically and genetically in a manner that can be successfully discriminated, based on their morphology (95% of success) and molecular variation (99.9% of success), in the studied set of samples

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Souto D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12742394 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature