91-8 Sat Jan 2 Population connectivity of an endangered gastropod across the Mediterranean Cunha, TJ*; Pavón, A; Espinosa, F; García-Gómez, JC; Giribet, G; de Medeiros, B; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA | Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama; Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain; Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain; Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Dept. Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA | Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama CunhaT@si.edu
Dispersal capacity and population connectivity have direct impacts on species distributions and susceptibility to extinction, especially in the face of anthropological disturbance. Patella ferruginea, a Mediterranean giant limpet, was an abundant patellogastropod on rocky coasts throughout the western Mediterranean. Harvesting and habitat destruction have caused drastic fragmentation and reduction of its populations. P. ferruginea is an endemic species and the most endangered marine invertebrate in the Mediterranean. Here we sampled tissues of populations from the Strait of Gibraltar to Sardinia and Tunisia, and used ddRADseq to investigate the genetic structure along its current range. Contrary to expectations based on the relatively short larval phase and the fragmented nature of the distribution, populations have little genetic structure across more than 1500 km. We also use this genome-wide data to infer recent demographic changes. Our results offer a promising perspective for future actions towards recovering the species, such as translocating individuals to help restore areas where it has been locally extinct.
