Population genetic indices of veined Rapa whelk groups of the Black Sea remote regions

Genetic structure and genetic distance of Rapana venosa populations from remote regions of the Black Sea (Odessa Bay and eastern Crimea, Ukraine) were defined. Despite the significant difference in morphometric parameters, the investigated samples of mollusks are genetically very similar, and the distance between them is at the level of local populations. Common features of observed groups of Rapana in the northern part of the Black Sea are the unequal occurrence of some alleles and genotypes, a high level of heterozygosity and nonequilibrium in the Hardy-Weinberg equation. The gene flow is the most significant of the evolutionary factors that form the genetic structure of Rapana venosa populations.