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MEPS
Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 178:251-258 (1999)  -  doi:10.3354/meps178251

No evidence for genetic differentiation of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis between lagoons and the seaside

1Jean-Pierre Skalamera1,*, François Renaud1, Michel Raymond2, Thierry de Meeûs1,**

1Centre d'Etudes sur le Polymorphisme des Micro-organismes (CEPM), UMR CNRS/IRD 9926, 911 avenue d'Agropolis, BP 5045, F-34032 Montpellier Cedex 01, France
2Institut des Sciences de L'Evolution, UMR 5554, Laboratoire de Génétique et Environnement, Université Montpellier II, Place E. Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
*Present address: Universitaet Basel, Zoologisches Institut, Rheinsprung 9, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
**Addressee for correspondence. E-mail:

ABSTRACT: Twelve locations of Mytilus galloprovincialis were sampled in lagoons and along the seaside in southern France. Lagoons represent a habitat with widely varying ecological conditions. Each lagoon has its own characteristic range of salinities and temperatures which fluctuate throughout the year. We studied several fundamental parameters of the population genetics of M. galloprovincialis at 8 enzymatic loci (genetic differentiation between locations, heterozygote deficits, selection, linkage disequilibrium) and investigated whether they are influenced by the high spatial and temporal instability of the lagoons (brackish water). In contrast to what could be expected based on the corresponding literature, we found no evidence for genetic differentiation, either among lagoons or between lagoons and the seaside. There was, thus, no evidence of selection on any of the loci studied.


KEY WORDS: Population genetics · Lagoons · Gene flow · Allozymes · Selection · Mussels


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