World Congress of Malacology Antwerp ... - Unitas Malacologica

were able to detect weak genetic differentiation among populations. Three distinct areas were
distinguished based on the presence of private alleles and allele frequencies: Cantabric, Miño basin
and Duero-Tagus drainages. Within the latter group, results for the Alberche river population (Tagus
basin) support the hypothesis that it was recently ‘captured’ from the Duero drainage basin by the
Tagus basin. These genetic data, together with ecological and phylogeographical data, provide
information critical to the development of appropriate conservation programs for this species.
Margaritifera marocana Pallary, 1918, a distinct species of Margaritifera still survives in
Morocco
Toledo, Carlos 1 ; Van Damme, Dirk 2 ; Araujo, Rafael 1 ; Machordom, Annie 1
1. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). José Gutiérrez Abascal 2. 28006 Madrid, Spain,
Email: rafael@mncn.csic.es; carlostc@mncn.csic.es; annie@mncn.csic.es
2. Research Unit Paleontology, Gent University. Krijgslaan 281, B-9000 Gent. Belgium,
Email: Dirk.VanDamme@UGent.be
Among the Unionoida, the family Margaritiferidae is a relict group for which the number of genera
and species is under discussion. Two species of the genus Margaritifera live in the West Palearctic:
Margaritifera margaritifera and M. auricularia, both of which are endangered across their respective
distributions. M. auricularia only lives in the Ebro basin in Spain, the Loire and Garonne basins in
France and in Morocco. Populations from the latter area are regarded as a distinct subspecies (M.
auricularia marocana) based on conchology.
We have had the opportunity to analyse samples from Morocco, and compare their sequences with
the other studied species of the same family. Partial sequences of the mitochondrial genes
cytochrome oxidase subunit I (CoI) and 16S rRNA (16S) support the recognition of the Moroccan
population as a different lineage. The divergence found between the Iberian and Moroccan
populations of M. auricularia (9.4% for CoI and 6.3% for 16S) is of the same order as that between
M. falcata and M. laevis (7.9% for CoI and 4.1% for 16S) or between M. margaritifera and M. laevis
(9.9% for CoI and 4.7% for 16S).
Though further morphological and ecological studies must be undertaken, our molecular data clearly
support the recognition of the specimens from Morocco as representing a distinct species. Until
further work disentangles the taxonomic organization of Moroccan populations we propose the name
Margaritifera marocana Pallary, 1918.
In addition, a similar comparative study is also required to establish the degree of relatedness
between the two surviving populations of M. auricularia from Spain and France in order to complete
our knowledge about these relict populations of a very endangered species.
Phylogenetic relationships of the southeast Asian land operculate snails of the genus
Cyclophorus (Prosobranchia: Cyclophoridae) using DNA sequence data
Tongkerd, Piyoros 1 , Sutcharit, Chirasak 1 , Douzery, Emmanuel 2 , Jaeger, Jean-Jacques 2 ; Panha,
Somsak 1
1. Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn
University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand,
Email: somsakp@sc.chula.ac.th, piyoros_tongkerd@yahoo.com, jirasak4@yahoo.com
2. Phylogénie Paléobiologie Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Sciences
et Techniques du Languedoc (Montpellier II), CC 064, Université Montpellier II, Place Eugene
Bataillon 34905 Montpellier Cedex 05, France,
Email: douzery@isem.univ-montp2.fr, Jaeger@isem.univ-montp2.fr
A molecular phylogeny is presented for part of the Southeast Asian land operculate snails of the
genus Cyclophorus Montfort, 1810 (Prosobranchia: Cyclophoridae) based on DNA sequences data
from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 locus. It has at least 10 parapatrically distributed colour
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