The phylogeography of the direct-developing intertidal gastropod Batillaria cumingi was examined by comparing the nucleotide sequences of part of the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) from 507 individuals, obtained from 24 sites that cover the distribution area of this species along the Japanese coasts, and from 2 sites on the Korean Peninsula. The individuals could be divided into 2 groups. Individuals in the first group mainly inhabit coasts along the Kuroshio Current, as well as Ariake Bay in western Kyushu, while the second group inhabits coasts along the Tsushima Current and its branches. Individuals in the 2 groups coexisted at only 3 sites, which correspond to the boundaries between the distributions of the 2 groups. The level of the genetic structure of B. cumingi is higher than those of the lecithotrophic gastropod species Turbo (Batillus) cornutus and the planktotrophic congeneric species B. multiformis.KEY WORDS: Phylogeography · Direct development · Batillaria cumingi · Mitochondrial DNA · Japanese Islands
Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 276: [161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172] 2004 Sawada & Handa 1998). These complicated current systems around the Japanese Islands are likely to have influenced the distribution and geographic structure of marine organisms, in particular species with low dispersal ability.Previous studies of a subtidal gastropod with a short planktonic stage, the Japanese turban shell Turbo (Batillus) cornutus, revealed a clear genetic structure that corresponded to the routes of the warm currents along the Japanese coastline (Kojima et al. 1997(Kojima et al. , 2000. The structure was attributed to environmental changes around Japan during the Quaternary period. The populations of the Japanese turban shell consist of 2 genetically distinct groups, one of which is distributed along the Kuroshio Current and one along the Tsushima Current, while no genetic structure is apparent within each group. If the low dispersal ability of Japanese turban shells is important for the formation and retention of a genetic structure, a clearer structure might be expected for a direct-developing species, and analysis of the genetic structure of such a species might be expected to provide further detailed paleoceanographic information (Kyle & Boulding 2000, Collin 2001, Hellberg et al. 2001.Intertidal gastropods of the genus Batillaria are dominant occupants of the muddy tidelands along the Japanese coasts. While 2 planktotrophic species, B. multiformis (Furota et al. 2002) and B. zonalis (S. Kamimura pers. comm.), are now threatened with extinction as a result of the recent exploitation of the Japanese coastline, comparable population declines of the direct-developing B. cumingi (Adachi & Wada 1999) have not yet been observed (Kurozumi 1995, Wada et al. 1996, Furota et al. 2002. While planktonic larvae may be unable to drift to suitable habitats, which have been isolated from ...