World Congress of Malacology Antwerp ... - Unitas Malacologica

In 2006 I sampled 45 sites in the 186 km long Drawa river – clean, natural in character and with a
rapid current – in the Pomeranian lake district. All the native unionid species were found there (total
1416 specimens). U.crassus was common and abundant (the density up to 16 indiv./m 2 ) but their
shells were dwarfish (the mean length± SD=43,3± 8,5 mm) if compared to the Pilica population (62,9
± 11,6mm). Most rare unionid species in Poland, P.complanata, was also recorded in the Drawa
River. The results show that in Polish rivers still exist favourable habitats for the native unionid
fauna, however more detailed studies of the subject are needed in the nearest future.
Does the size of molecular matrices really matter? Using molecular loci in ‘Archaeogastropod’
phylogenies
Aktipis, Stephanie W.; Giribet, Gonzalo
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Email: saktipis@oeb.harvard.edu; ggiribet@oeb.harvard.edu
This analysis investigates the monophyly and phylogenetic placement of the globally distributed
gastropod clades Patellogastropoda, Vetigastropoda, Neritimorpha and the so-called ‘Hot-Vent Taxa’
using novel molecular data. At one point, these groups and Cocculiniformia were placed within the
Archaeogastropoda (Thiele 1925), but systematists now increasingly question their status as a single
clade. Furthermore, researchers have had difficulty obtaining a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for
this clade, especially in analyses based solely on molecular data. In an attempt to understand how the
inclusion of additional molecular loci affects the phylogenetic relationships among these
‘archaeogastropod’ clades, we have attempted to sequence various ‘novel’ genes for use in gastropod
phylogenetics. Currently, we have had success sequencing three under-utilized nuclear coding loci
from different gastropod species: myosin heavy chain type II, RNA polymerase II (subunit 1), and
elongation factor-1α. We will present the preliminary results obtained from a phylogenetic analysis
of gastropod relationships combining these ‘novel’ genes with ‘more traditional’ molecular loci such
as 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, 16S rRNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and histone H3. This analysis
incorporates molecular data from up to eight different genes for 23 gastropod taxa representing
Patellogastropoda, Vetigastropoda, Neritimorpha and the ‘Hot-Vent Taxa.’ The analysis also includes
representatives from the Caenogastropoda and molluscan classes Bivalvia, Polyplacophora, and
Scaphopoda. Results of this preliminary research will elucidate the utility of adding under-utilized
nuclear protein-coding loci in obtaining more robust phylogenetic hypotheses of gastropod
relationships.
Evolution and biogeography of ancient freshwater pulmonate gastropods:
the limpet family Acroloxidae (Hygrophila)
Albrecht, Christian 1 ; Shirokaya, Alena A. 2 ; Prozorova, Larisa, A. 3 ; Ellis, Bonnie K. 4 ; Wilke,
Thomas 1
1. Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-
Ring 26-32 (IFZ), D-35392 Giessen, Germany,
Emails: Christian.Albrecht@allzool.bio.uni-giessen.de, Tom.Wilke@allzool.bio.uni-giessen.de
2. Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Batorskaya
street 3, Irkutsk 664033 Russia,
Email: shirokaya@lin.rk.ru
3. Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, 159 Pr.
100 let Vladivostoku, Vladivostok, 690022, Russia,
Emails: prozorova@ibss.dvo.ru, lprozorova@mail.ru
4. Flathead Lake Biological Station, The University of Montana, 32125 Bio Station Lane, Polson,
MT 59860-9659, USA,
Email: bonnie.ellis@umontana.edu
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