GENETIC STRUCTURE OF COEXISTING SEXUAL AND CLONAL SUBPOPULATIONS IN A FRESHWATER SNAIL (POTAMOPYRGUS ANTIPODARUM)

Abstract

We examined clonal diversity and the distribution of both clonal and sexual genotypes in a single population of freshwater snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) in which diploid sexual individuals and triploid parthenogens coexist. A genetic analysis of individuals from three habitat zones in Lake Alexandrina, New Zealand revealed extremely high clonal diversity: 165 genotypes among 605 clonal individuals. The frequency of triploid clonal individuals increased with increasing depth in the lake, and most of the individual clones were habitat specific, suggesting that differences among habitats are important in structuring the clonal subpopulation. There were also high levels of clonal diversity within habitats, suggesting frequent origins of habitat-specific clones. In contrast, diploid sexual individuals were proportionately more common in the shallow regions of the lake (where infection by trematode larvae is highest), and there was no significant spatial structure in the sexual subpopulation. We suggest that habitat specialization by clones, as well as parasite-mediated selection against common clones, are important factors affecting the structure of this mixed population of sexual and clonal snails.

Keywords: Clonal diversity; Potamopyrgus antipodarum; frozen niche variation hypothesis; general-purpose genotype hypothesis; parthenogenesis; sexual reproduction.