<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The American panopeid crab species Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould, 1841) is listed as an non-native species in European waters. In Poland, it occurred in the 1950s at two sites at the Baltic Sea coast, the Dead Vistula River (DVR) and the Vistula Lagoon (VL). Almost 50 years later, two additional populations were identified in the Gulf of Gdańsk (GG) and its inner part, Puck Bay (PB). In the present study, we sequenced and analyzed part of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene of the four Polish populations of R. harrisii in order to assess their genetic diversity and connectivity. The analyzed sequences of a length of 989 base pairs revealed eight different haplotypes. The highest number of haplotypes (n=6) was observed in the population from GG, whereas the lowest (n=3) in VL. The most common haplotype was recorded in 37% of the analyzed individuals. Pairwise ΦST values were mostly non-significant, with the exception of the comparison between DVR and VL (ΦST = 0.267; P &lt; 0.05) and between PB and VL (ΦST = 0.194; P &lt; 0.05), indicating a restricted gene flow or different sources of colonization.
</abstract>

The American panopeid crab species Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould, 1841) is listed as an non-native species in European waters. In Poland, it occurred in the 1950s at two sites at the Baltic Sea coast, the Dead Vistula River (DVR) and the Vistula Lagoon (VL). Almost 50 years later, two additional populations were identified in the Gulf of Gdańsk (GG) and its inner part, Puck Bay (PB). In the present study, we sequenced and analyzed part of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene of the four Polish populations of R. harrisii in order to assess their genetic diversity and connectivity. The analyzed sequences of a length of 989 base pairs revealed eight different haplotypes. The highest number of haplotypes (n=6) was observed in the population from GG, whereas the lowest (n=3) in VL. The most common haplotype was recorded in 37% of the analyzed individuals. Pairwise ΦST values were mostly non-significant, with the exception of the comparison between DVR and VL (ΦST = 0.267; P < 0.05) and between PB and VL (ΦST = 0.194; P < 0.05), indicating a restricted gene flow or different sources of colonization.

Genetic diversity of the non-native crab <italic>Rhithropanopeus harrisii</italic> (Brachyura: Panopeidae) in the Polish coastal waters − an example of patchy genetic diversity at a small geographic scale

Department of Experimental Ecology of Marine Organisms

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Genetic diversity of the non-native crab  (Brachyura: Panopeidae) in the Polish coastal waters − an example of patchy genetic diversity at a small geographic scale

The American panopeid crab species Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould, 1841) is listed as an non-native species in European waters. In Poland, it occurred in the...

Genetic diversity of the non-native crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Brachyura: Panopeidae) in the Polish coastal waters − an example of patchy genetic diversity at a small geographic scale

Published Online: Sep 30, 2015

Page range: 305 - 315

Received: Mar 29, 2015

Accepted: Apr 23, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ohs-2015-0029

Keywords
Rhithropanopeus harrisii, coastal waters, genetic diversity, restricted gene flow, invasion biology

© 2015 Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Genetic diversity of the non-native crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Brachyura: Panopeidae) in the Polish coastal waters − an example of patchy genetic diversity at a small geographic scale

Published Online: Sep 30, 2015

Page range: 305 - 315

Received: Mar 29, 2015

Accepted: Apr 23, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ohs-2015-0029

KeywordsRhithropanopeus harrisii, coastal waters, genetic diversity, restricted gene flow, invasion biology

© 2015 Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Rhithropanopeus harrisii, coastal waters, genetic diversity, restricted gene flow, invasion biology