DNA barcodes and phylogenetic affinities of the terrestrial slugs Arion gilvus and A. ponsi (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Arionidae).

ABSTRACT: The Iberian Peninsula is a region with a high endemicity of species of the terrestrial slug subgenus Mesarion. Many of these species have been described mainly on subtle differences in their proximal genitalia. It therefore remains to be investigated 1) whether these locally diverged taxa also represent different species under a phylogenetic species concept as has been shown for other Mesarion species outside the Iberian Peninsula, and 2) how these taxa are phylogenetically related. Here, we analysed DNA sequence data of two mitochondrial (COI and 16S) genes, and of the nuclear ITS1 region, to explore the phylogenetic affinities of two of these endemic taxa, viz. Arion gilvus Torres Mínguez, 1925 and A. ponsi Quintana Cardona, 2007. We also evaluated the use of these DNA sequence data as D

SUBMITTER: Breugelmans K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3890673 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature