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Journal Molluscan Studies Advance Access originally published online on June 19, 2007
Journal of Molluscan Studies 2007 73(2):147-154; doi:10.1093/mollus/eym009
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Malacological Society of London, all rights reserved

Detecting shape differences in species of the Littorina saxatilis complex by morphometric analysis

P. Conde-Padín1, J.W. Grahame2 and E. Rolán-Alvarez1,

1 Facultad de Biología, Campus Universitario, Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain; and 2 Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

Correspondence: E. Rolán-Alvarez; e-mail: rolan{at}uvigo.es


  Abstract

We investigated variation in shell size and shape of marine snail species of the Littorina saxatilis complex (L. saxatilis, L. compressa and L. arcana) using geometric morphometric methods. These morphologically similar periwinkle species that are common in the European intertidal have presented many problems for diagnosis based on morphology alone. A discriminant analysis demonstrated that geometric morphometrics is very efficient for diagnosing individuals to species among sympatric populations. We successfully diagnosed an average of 96% of the specimens (with 85.7–100% correct diagnosis for specific comparisons). The diagnosis capability of this method is absolute at the population level. This makes the technique potentially useful for the design of manipulative field or laboratory experiments. Moreover, a geometric-morphometric analysis was also accomplished in two snail ecotypes (H and M) of L. saxatilis from rocky shores of NE England which are apparently adapted to different degrees of wave exposure. We found that the H (exposed) ecotype has a relatively rounded shell shape with a bigger aperture, whereas the M (protected) ecotype has a smaller aperture.

(Received 23 March 2006; accepted 25 January 2007)


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