Genome‐wide nuclear data confirm two species in the Alpine endemic land snailNoricella oreinoss.l. (Gastropoda, Hygromiidae)

Abstract

The Austrian endemic land snail species Noricella oreinos (formerly Trochulus oreinos) occurs in the Northeastern Calcareous Alps at high elevations. Two morphologically highly similar subspecies N. o. oreinos and N. o. scheerpeltzi have been described. First analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear marker sequences indicated a high genetic divergence between them. In the present study, we aimed to assess gene flow between the two subspecies which should help to re‐evaluate their taxonomic status. Sequence data and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers of 255 Noricella specimens covering the whole distribution range were analyzed. A clear geographic separation was found within the potential contact zone, the Haller Mauern mountain range. Samples of all western sites were part of the clade representing N. o. scheerpeltzi and almost all samples from the eastern sites clustered with N. o. oreinos. However, within two sampling sites of the eastern Haller Mauern, a few individuals possessed a COI sequence matching the N. o. oreinos clade whereas at the ITS2 locus they were heterozygous possessing the alleles of both taxa. Contrary to the ITS2 results indicating historical and/or ongoing hybridization, AFLP analyses of 202 individuals confirmed a clear separation of the two taxa congruent with the mitochondrial data. Although they occur on the same mountain range without any physical barrier, no indication of ongoing gene flow between the two taxa was found. Thus, we conclude that the two taxa are separate species N. oreinos and N. scheerpeltzi.

Redescription of Monacha pantanellii (De Stefani, 1879), a species endemic to the central Apennines, Italy (Gastropoda, Eupulmonata, Hygromiidae) by an integrative molecular and morphological approach

“…The conclusion that ten populations from the central Apennines form a different species is supported by the analysis of K2P genetic distances of COI sequences (Table 5). Although the utility of the 3% barcode threshold as a marker for species distinction, applied in the so-called "barcode method" based on COI sequences (Hebert et al 2003a(Hebert et al , 2003b(Hebert et al , 2018Pentinsaari et al 2020), is disputable (Davison et al 2009;Hausdorf 2010, 2012;Köhler and Johnson 2012;Batomalaque et al 2019;Koch et al 2020), COI sequences have been used to analyse taxonomic problems in different gastropod families (e.g., Remigio and Hebert 2003;Elejalde et al 2008;Duda et al 2011;Breugelmans et al 2013;Proćków et al 2013Proćków et al , 2019Čandek and Kuntner 2015;Walther et al 2016;Kruckenhauser et al 2017;Galan et al 2018;Gladstone et al 2019;Harl et al 2019;Kneubühler et al 2019;Bamberger et al 2020). They were also useful in our previous studies on Monacha species (Pieńkowska et al 2015(Pieńkowska et al , 2018a(Pieńkowska et al , 2019a(Pieńkowska et al , 2019b.…”

Taxonomic revision and dissolution of the genus Monachoides (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora)

“…The results of molecular phylogenetic studies led to a re‐definition of the family and its subfamilies (Neiber et al., 2017), a new classification into tribes (Neiber et al., 2017), and revisions of the generic placement of many species (e.g., Neiber, 2019; Proćków et al., 2019) including the description of new genera (Caro et al., 2019; Kneubühler et al., 2022; Neiber et al., 2017). Finally, molecular phylogenetic and genetic studies also prompted revisions of the species‐level taxonomy of several hygromiid genera (e.g., Bamberger et al., 2020; Duda et al., 2011; Pieńkowska et al., 2022; Proćków et al., 2013, 2019).…”