Comparison of Population Genetic Structure of Two Seashore-Dwelling Animal Species, Periwinkle Littorina brevicula and Acorn Barnacle Fistulobalanus albicostatus from Korea

Abstract

The genetic structure of marine animals that inhabit the seashore is affected by numerous factors. Of these, gene flow and natural selection during recruitment have strong influences on the genetic structure of seashoredwelling species that have larval periods. Relative contributions of these two factors to the genetic structure of marine species would be determined mainly by the duration of larval stage. The relationship between larval period and genetic structure of population has been rarely studied in Korea. In this study, genetic variations of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) were analyzed in two dominant species on rocky shore habitats in the Korean peninsula: periwinkle Littorina brevicula and acorn barnacle Fistulobalanus albicostatus. Both species are not strongly structured and may have experienced recent population expansion. Unlike periwinkle, however, barnacle populations have considerable genetic variation, and show a bimodal pattern of mismatch distribution. These results suggest that barnacle populations are more affected by local adaptation rather than gene flow via larval migration. The bimodal patterns of barnacle populations observed in mismatch distribution plots imply that they may have experienced secondary contact. Further studies on seashoredwelling species are expected to be useful in understanding the evolution of the coastal ecosystem around Korean waters.

Genetic Diversity of a Rising Invasive Pest in the Native Range: Population Genetic Structure of Aromia bungii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in South Korea

“…Despite population genetic structure can differ by species [26], sampling [27], and the selected genetic marker [28], our result was different from those of the two closely related species that shows nonstar-like network topology: Chinese Neocerambyx raddei Blessig, 1872 [28], Korean and global Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky, 1854) [17]. The haplotype network result of Korea RLB showed a moderate star-like topology that many minor haplotypes are related to a major central haplotype.…”