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Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on August 28, 2007
Journal of Heredity 2007 98(6):603-610; doi:10.1093/jhered/esm067
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© The American Genetic Association. 2007. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Genetic Isolation by Distance among Populations of the Netted Dog Whelk Nassarius reticulatus (L.) along the European Atlantic Coastline

Lucía Couceiro, Rodolfo Barreiro, José M. Ruiz, and Erik E. Sotka

From the Área de Ecoloxía, Facultade de Ciencias, Campus da Zapateira, s/n, Universidade da Coruña, 15071-A Coruña, Spain (Couceiro, Barreiro, and Ruiz); and the Grice Marine Laboratory and Department of Biology, College of Charleston, 205 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412 (Sotka)

Address correspondence to L. Couceiro at the address above, or e-mail: lcouceiro{at}udc.es.

Estimates of the average distances by which marine larvae disperse are generally poorly described, despite the central role that larval dispersal plays in the demographic connectivity of populations across geographic space. Here, we describe the population genetic structure and average dispersal distance of the netted dog whelk Nassarius reticulatus (L.) (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Prosobranchia), a widespread member of European intertidal communities, using DNA sequence variation in a fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). An analysis of 156 individuals from 6 locations spread across ~1700 km of the European Atlantic coastline revealed weak and nonsignificant population structure (overall {Phi}ST = 0.00013). However, pairwise {Phi}ST values revealed a slight but significant increase in genetic isolation with geographic distance (IBD), suggesting that populations are not panmictic across the sampled geographic range. If we assume that the isolation by distance is maintained by a stable, stepping stone model of gene flow, then the slope of the IBD is consistent with an average larval dispersal distance of ~70 km per generation. The spatial scale of larval dispersal in N. reticulatus is consistent with the life cycle of the species (planktotrophic veliger lasting 30–60 days before competent to settle). A mismatch analysis of the COI sequences revealed a signature of an ancient demographic expansion that began 61 500–160 000 years ago, well before the most recent Pleistocene glaciation event. The greatest levels of genetic diversity occur within the middle latitudes of the whelk's geographic range, consistent with the notion that historic populations of N. reticulatus might have expanded northward and southward from the centrally located Bay of Biscay.

Corresponding Editor: Martin Tracey

Received October 18, 2006
Accepted May 31, 2007


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