Page 1 - Patella_ferruginea_Casu_Rivera_ali2011

Genetica (2011) 139:1293–1308
DOI 10.1007/s10709-012-9631-3

Patterns of spatial genetic structuring in the endangered limpet
Patella ferruginea: implications for the conservation
of a Mediterranean endemic

Marco Casu • Georgina A. Rivera-Ingraham • Piero Cossu • Tiziana Lai •
Daria Sanna • Gian Luca Dedola • Rossana Sussarellu • Gabriella Sella •
Benedetto Cristo • Marco Curini-Galletti • Jose ´ Carlos Garcı ´a-Go ´mez •
Free Espinosa

Received: 19 October 2011 / Accepted: 13 January 2012 / Published online: 28 January 2012
Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 is an endan- a crucial role in population structuring by increasing the
gered marine gastropod endemic to the Western Mediter- effect of genetic drift.
ranean. Its range is restricted to the Sardinian-Corsican
region (SCR), North Africa, a few scattered sites in Keywords Genetic structure Inter-simple sequence
Southern Spain, and Sicily. Inter-simple sequence repeat repeat Mitochondrial DNA regions Mollusca
(ISSR) markers and three different mitochondrial DNA Population connectivity
(mtDNA) regions, Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I, 12S
(small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene) and 16S (large-sub-
unit ribosomal RNA gene), were used to investigate the Introduction
presence of genetic population structuring. The mtDNA
sequences showed very low levels of genetic differentia- The limpet Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 (Mollusca:
tion. Conversely, ISSRs showed the presence of two main Gastropoda) is endemic to the Western Mediterranean,
genetic groups, corresponding to Spain, North Africa and where it is considered the most endangered marine macr-
Sicily and the SCR. The SCR was further split into two oinvertebrate by the European Council Directive 92/43/
subgroups. The ISSR results suggest that, on a regional EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitat of Wild Fauna
scale, the genetic structure of P. ferruginea is mainly and Flora, 1992. It is distributed along rocky shores of
determined by the restriction of gene flow by dispersal different lithologies that are exposed to medium to strong
barriers. On a more local scale human harvesting may play wave energy and are between the high midlittoral and
supralittoral zones (Laborel-Deguen and Laborel 1991). P.
ferruginea is a protandrous species (Espinosa et al. 2008)
M. Casu (&) P. Cossu T. Lai D. Sanna in which the male achieves sexual maturation at the age of
G. L. Dedola B. Cristo M. Curini-Galletti
Dipartimento di Zoologia e Genetica Evoluzionistica, Universita ` 2–3 years (Laborel-Deguen and Laborel 1991). Females
di Sassari, Via F. Muroni 25, 07100 Sassari, Italy produce relatively large eggs, suggestive of lecithotrophic
e-mail: marcasu@uniss.it development (Laborel-Deguen and Laborel 1991). The
species has trochophora and veliger phases (Espinosa et al.
G. A. Rivera-Ingraham J. C. Garcı ´a-Go ´mez F. Espinosa
2010). The early stages of larval development in P. fer-
Laboratorio de Biologı ´a Marina, Departamento de Fisiologı ´ay
Zoologı ´a, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida Reina Mercedes 6, ruginea appear to be very similar to other related limpet
41012 Sevilla, Spain species (Dodd 1957; Wanninger et al. 1999; Kay and Emlet
2002), with the stadium of early veliger reached after 27 h
R. Sussarellu
Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Environnement Marin, Institut post fertilization at 18°C (Espinosa et al. 2010; but see also
Universitaire Europe ´en de la Mer, Universite ´ de Bretagne Kay and Emlet 2002). Metamorphosis should appear in the
Occidentale, Technopo ˆle Brest Iroise, 29280 Plouzane ´, France range of seven to nine days after fertilization, consistent
with a planktonic larval duration (PLD) of ten days max-
G. Sella
Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell’Uomo, Universita ` di imum, as in related species (Dodd 1957; Wanninger et al.
Torino, Via Accademia Albertina, 13, 10123 Torino, Italy 1999; Kay and Emlet 2002).

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