Genetic variation and geographic differentiation in the marine triclad Bdelloura candida (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Maricola), ectocommensal on the American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus.

ABSTRACT: Bdelloura candida (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Maricola) is an ectocommensal symbiont on the American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus, living on the book gills and appendages, where it spends its entire life. Given its limited dispersal capabilities and its inability to live outside of the host, we hypothesized a genetic structure that parallels that of its host. We obtained 84 planarian individuals from 19 horseshoe crabs collected from 10 sites from Massachusetts to Florida. We amplified the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 and conducted phylogeographic and population genetic analyses, which show a clear and strong genetic break between the populations in the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts. Among the Atlantic populations, two additional,

SUBMITTER: Riesgo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5397438 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature