Evaluations of RAPD markers and allozyme patterns: evidence for morphological convergence in the morphotype of Cochlicopa lubricella (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Cochlicopidae)

This study deals with the systematic status of the widespread nominal land snail Cochlicopa lubricella (Porro, 1838). Three putative, conchologically distinctive morphotypes of Cochlicopa (Pulmonata: Cochlicopidae) occur in central Europe: C. nitens, C. lubrica, and C. lubricella. Self-fertilization is the main breeding stretegy within each of these nominal species. These three morphotypes were studied with RAPD profiling and the results compared with those of previous investigations using isoenzyme electro-phoresis (Armbruster & Schlegel, 1994: J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res., 32: 282–296). Both sets of molecular data provide evidence against the monophyly of the conchologically classified members of C. lubricella. The strain previously classified as C. lubricella type 1 on shell morphological grounds is genetically indistinguishable from C. lubrica. The strain termed C. lubricella type 2 constitutes a distinctive group. C. lubrica, C. lubricella type 1 and C. lubricella type 2 are more closely related to each other than either is to C. nitens. The molecular data demonstrate the shortcomings of shell morphometric characteristics for determining the taxonomic rank of nominal snail species.