title: An RFLP assay to determine if Mytilus galloprovincialis Lmk. (Mytilidae; Bivalvia) is of Northern or Southern hemisphere origin.
abstract: Mytilus galloprovincialis is one of three smooth shelled blue mussel species belonging to the Mytilus edulis species complex. Naturally occurring and introduced populations of M. galloprovincialis are widely distributed throughout many regions of the globe. Mytilus galloprovincialis includes morphologically indistinguishable Northern and Southern hemisphere mtDNA lineages that have been separated for ∼1 my. To distinguish recently introduced Northern M. galloprovincialis from resident Southern M. galloprovincialis in New Zealand, we developed a 16s rRNA RFLP assay. We compared RFLP assignments of 178 mussels with those generated from a 16s rRNA sequence-estimated phylogeny. All mussels were correctly assigned by the RFLP to their sequence-based phylogenetic placement. This assay allows the rapid identification of Northern and Southern hemisphere M. galloprovincialis and will provide an important tool for monitoring human mediated introductions of otherwise cryptic lineages.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Marine Environmental and Economic Research, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand Department of Biology, and Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA 98416, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Westfall
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Wimberger
authors.forename: J P A
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gardner