Salinity appears to be the main factor shaping spatial COI diversity of Corbicula lineages within the Chinese Yangtze River Basin

Abstract

Aim: To date, few studies have examined the phylogenetics of Corbicula clams in their native range and the environmental parameters influencing their distribution, although this could provide great insights into the biological adaptation and invasion dynamics of Corbicula clams. We sought to identify the genetic lineages of native Corbicula clams and elucidate the environmental factors shaping the distributions of identified lineages. Location: China, mainly the Yangtze River Basin. Methods: The alignment comprised 558 COI sequences including samples from China and 222 COI sequences from published studies. This dataset was used to generate phylogenetic trees and compare population diversity. We used dbRDA method to assess the relationship between these COI data and environmental factors measured to identify the important factors affecting Corbicula's distribution. Results: The COI phylogenetic tree delineated the monophyly of 3 major COI clades and 77 distinct COI haplotypes in the Yangtze River Basin. The invasive lineage C/S (FW17) was not identified in our sampling in China, while invasive lineages A/R (FW5 = Hap6), B (FW1 = Hap17) and Rlc (FW4 = Hap43) were identified, abundant and widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River. Focusing on populations from Yangtze River Basin, both the COI haplotype and nucleotide diversity in the lakes along the Yangtze River increased with longitude, except for the river mouth population. The AMOVA tests showed significant differentiation between the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and among populations. The dbRDA results suggested that the parameter chloride explained most of the spatial COI haplotype distribution variation in the Yangtze River Basin, with the three invasive lineages tolerating broad fluctuations of salinity (chloride levels ranging from 4 to 60 mg/L). Conclusions: The Corbicula COI haplotypes found within the Yangtze River Basin had distinct distribution preferences, with the invasive androgenetic lineages being the | 365 ZENG et al.

Distribution patterns of the two genetic groups of Corbicula fluminea in a lotic–lentic system

“…In fisheries management, C. fluminea has been managed as a single management unit for a long time in the Hongze Lake (Bi et al., 2014 ). The same management strategy has also been implemented for the bivalve in other waters (Gorman et al., 2011 ; Zeng et al., 2023 ). Significantly divergent populations are not conducive to sustainable utilization of resources under a single management strategy (Reiss et al., 2009 ).…”

“…The same management strategy has also been implemented for the bivalve in other waters (Gorman et al, 2011;Zeng et al, 2023).…”

“…Correlations between habitat divergence and morphological and genetic patterns are well established in fish, which have been helpful to understand potential drivers of fish diversity patterns and to design management measures. However, the influence of lotic and lentic habitats on morphotypes and genetic divergence has not been well established for Corbicula fluminea , one of the most invasive bivalves globally, which is a drawback in understanding how habitat‐related population and genetic patterns can be used for formulating prevention and control management of this invasive species (Ilarri et al., 2019 ; Karatayev et al., 2005 ; Li et al., 2022 ; Zeng et al., 2023 ). Corbicula fluminea has successfully invaded aquatic systems in America and Europe that contain both lotic and lentic local habitat conditions (Bespalaya et al., 2018 ; Crespo et al., 2017 ; Haponski & Foighil, 2019 ), with a total of seven morphotypes being reported from different invasion locations (Appendix S1 ), specifically four morphotypes (Forms A–D) in America and three (Forms R, Rlc, and S) in Europe (Haponski & Foighil, 2019 ; Marescaux et al., 2010 ).…”