A revision of the genus Littorina (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in Korea

Abstract

Littorina Férussac, 1822 is an abundant genus of small gastropods found in the upper littoral zone of rocky seashores worldwide. Although ecologically important, shell-based species identification in this genus is challenging due to phenotypic variation in shell morphology and lack of diagnostic characters among morphologically similar species. In this study, we revised the taxonomy of Korean Littorina species using morphological characters (shell and radula) and cox1 mitochondrial DNA sequences for three Korean species: L. brevicula, L. sitkana, and L. horikawai. Results suggest that L. sitkana was erroneously reported as L. kasatka in a previous study. A new record for Littorina horikawai (Matsubayashi & Habe in Habe, 1979), previously unknown from Korea, is described, which can be distinguished from L. sitkana by the presence of alternating white and brown spiral ribs on each whorl. Comparison of the mtDNA cox1 gene sequences shows very low intraspecific variation even between geographically distant populations. A phylogenetic tree supports a close relationship between L. horikawai and L. sitkana, consistent with earlier phylogenetic studies.

First mitochondrial genome of a periwinkle from the genus Littoraria: Littoraria sinensis

“…Littoraria sinensis belongs to Littorinidae and is one of the most abundant intertidal gastropods along north-western Pacific. However, the identification of different species is still challenging due to morphologically similarity and phenotypic variation in shell morphology (Apolinario et al 1999;Reid et al 2010;Lee et al 2018). Molecular method is very effective for classification, especially for L. sinensis, of which the nomenclature has suffered numerous changes (Reid 2001).…”

“… 2010 ; Lee et al. 2018 ). Molecular method is very effective for classification, especially for L. sinensis , of which the nomenclature has suffered numerous changes (Reid 2001 ).…”

Genetic variation of <i>Littorina horikawai</i> endemic to the western coast and the adjacent islands around Kyushu, Japan inferred by mtDNA analyses

“…Around the Japanese coastal area, there is a sister species of Littorina sitkana: L. horikawai Matsubayashi & Habe in Habe, 1979 (Reid et al 2012). The distribution area of L. horikawai is a narrow range compared with other Littorina species and is limited to the western coastal area and the adjacent islands around Kyushu, Japan (Reid 1996, Higo et al 1999, Hasegawa 2017, Lee et al 2018, Yamazaki et al 2021b). In the area, L. horikawai shows a discontinuous distribution pattern mainly occurring in the islands (Fig.…”

“…To visualize the geographical haplotype distribution, we reconstructed the haplotype networks using a median-joining network implemented in PopART (Bandelt et al 1999, Leigh & Bryant 2015. The haplotype network was reconstructed with L. (Reid 1996, Kuwazuru et al 2004, Lee et al 2018, Yamazaki 2019. Numbers (1-13) mean our sampling localities.…”

“…Fig.1. Map of the distribution area of Littorina horikawai endemic to the western coast and the adjacent islands around Kyushu, Japan(Reid 1996, Kuwazuru et al 2004, Lee et al 2018, Yamazaki 2019. Numbers (1-13) mean our sampling localities.…”