Adaptive strategy of Rapana venosa (Gastropoda, Muricidae) in the invasive population of the Black Sea
Abstract
We conducted molecular-genetic and morphological studies on the veined rapa whelk Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) in the Crimean waters of the Black Sea in order to determine possible reasons of the invasive success of this mollusk. Molecular-genetic tests were performed using COI gene; the surveyed samples reliably identified to R. venosa species. We compared the data on initial (from the Far-Eastern seas) and some invasive populations. In the natural conditions of the Yellow, East China Seas, and the Sea of Japan, the genetic diversity of rapa whelk is high (Hd = 0.933, π = 0.002). In all the invasive populations of rapa whelk (Black Sea, European and North American), an extremely low level of haplotypic and nucleotide diversity was determined (Hd = 0.0, π = 0.0). Despite low values of genetic diversity, the invasive populations of rapa whelk are characterized by ecological success. We noted stable growth of populations, tolerance to diseases and parasites, effective reproduction, high fertility. This contradicts the main provisions of the population genetics theory of formation of edge of range populations, because usually only a small number of specimens of rapa whelk were introduced. The explanations of the unique condition of the invasive populations of rapa whelk, both from an ecological perspective (high resistance to fluctuations of hydrological factors and chemical pollution, absence of enemies, high fertility) and genetic perspective (high selective value of separate haplotypes settled in the new water areas) have not been confirmed. We determined that a very important factor for the naturalization of the rapa whelk at low genetic diversity is the intra-species morpho-ecological divergence. In the Crimean water area of the Black Sea, R. venosa was found to have two morpho-ecological forms associated with the peculiarities of the development of the proportions of the shell. Study of successful invasive species would allow timely and adequate reaction to new cases of introduction.References
Elton, C. (1960). Ekologiya nashestvij zhivotnyh i rastenij [Ecology of invasions of animals and plants]. Inostrannaya Literatura, Moscow (in Russian).
Goulletquer, P., Bachelet, G., Sauriau, P. G., & Noel, P. (2002). Open Atlantic coast of Europe – a century of introduced species into French waters. In: Invasive aquatic species of Europe. Distribution, impacts and management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Kerckhof, F., Vink, R. J., Nieweg, D. C., & Post, J. N. J. (2006). The veined whelk Rapana venosa has reached the North Sea. Aquatic Invasions, 1(1), 35–37.
Koutsoubas, D., & Voultsiadou-Koukoura, E. (1991). The occurrence of Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) (Gastropoda, Thaididae) in the Aegean Sea. Bolletino Malacogico, 26(10–12), 201–204.
Lanfranconi, A., Hutton, M., Brugnoli, E., & Muniz, P. (2009). New record of the alien mollusc Rapana venosa (Valenciennes 1846) in the Uruguayan coastal zone of Rio de la Plata. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 4(2), 216–221.
Odum, E. P. (1985). Trends expected in stressed ecosystems. Bio-Science, 35, 419–422.
Pereladov, M. V. (2013). Sovremennoe sostoyanie populyacii i osobennosti biologii rapany (Rapana venosa) v severo-vostochnoj chasti Chyornogo moray [The current state of the population and the biology of the Rapana venosa in the northeastern Black Sea]. Trudy VNIRO, 150, 8–20 (in Russian).
Revkov, N. K. (2009). Nekotorye zamechaniya po sostavu i mnogoletnej dinamike fauny mollyuskov ryhlyh gruntov yugo-vostochnogo Kryma (Chernoe more) [Some comments on the composition and long-term dynamics of the mollusk fauna of loose soils if the south-eastern Crimea (Black Sea)]. Karadag-2009. Ekosi-Gidrofizika, Sevastopol. Pp. 251–261 (in Ukrainian). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1962.2881
Savini, D., Castellazzi, M., Favruzza, M., & Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A. (2004). The alien mollusc Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846; Gastropoda, Muricidae) in the Northern Adriatic Sea: Population structure and shell morphology. Chemistry and Ecology, 20(Suppl. 1), 411–424.
Seyhan, K., Mazlum, E. R., Emiral, H., Engin, S., & Demirhan, S. (2003). Diel feeding periodicity, gastric emptying, and estimated daily food consumption of whelk (Rapana venosa) in the south eastern Black Sea (Turkey) marine ecosystem. Indian Journal of Marine Science, 32(3), 249–251.
Shen, Y., Kang, J., & He, S. (2016). DNA barcoding for the identification of common economic aquatic products in Central China and its application for the supervision of the marked trade. Food Control, 61, 79–91.
Shmalgauzen, I. I. (1982). Organizm kak celoe v individual’nom i istoricheskom razvitii [The organism as a whole in individual and historical development]. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).