Ricerc@Sapienza

In marine environments, connectivity among populations of benthic invertebrates is provided primarily by dispersion of larvae, with the duration of pelagic larval phase (PLD) supposed to represent one of the major factor affecting connectivity. In marine gastropods, PLD is linked to specific larval development types, which may be entirely intracapsular (thus lacking a pelagic dispersal), or include a short pelagic lecithotrophic or a long planktotrophic phase.

Genetic connectivity plays a crucial role in shaping the geographic structure of species. Our aim in this study was to explore the pattern of genetic connectivity in Bursa scrobilator, an iconic marine caenogastropod with long-lived pelagic larvae. Our study was based on the analysis of DNA sequence data for the 658-bp barcoding fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. This is the largest DNA sequence dataset assembled to date for B. scrobilator. These data confirm that the two recently described subspecies B.