The taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of the genus Aenigmomphiscola Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1981 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Lymnaeidae)

Abstract

The taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of the lymnaeid genus Aenigmomphiscola Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1981 are studied for the first time using molecular taxonomic methods. Snails of this genus have strong conchological similarity to representatives of the genus Omphiscola Rafinesque, 1815, but differ from other lymnaeids by an advanced inner structure of the praeputium. In spite of clear morphological differences between Aenigmomphiscola and Omphiscola, some authors have proposed their probable synonymy. The use of four molecular markers (two nuclear and two mitochondrial) and two phylogenetic tree-building algorithms allowed us to conclude that Aenigmomphiscola is an independent genus within Lymnaeidae that is closely allied to Omphiscola. These genera are vicarious, as the first of them inhabits the eastern, and the second the western part of the Palaearctic. Conchological and radular characters are not sufficient to distinguish between Aenigmomphiscola and Omphiscola.

Keywords:

• Aenigmomphiscola
• Lymnaeidae
• morphology
• molecular systematics

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dmitry Palatov (Moscow), who kindly provided us with fixed specimens of Aenigmomphiscola europaea, as well as Alfried Karimov and Natalia Vinarskaya (Omsk), who helped during field work in the Mountain Altay. Dr Pavel Kiyashko, Lidiya Yarochnovich (Sankt-Petersburg) and Maxim Grebennikov (Yekaterinburg) provided valuable help during work with the museum specimens of Aenigmomphiscola. We would like to express our thanks to Prof. Dr Uwe Fritz (SNSD) for financing the greater part of the molecular analyses, Anke Müller (SNSD) for some sequences and the instruction of K.S. in lab work, as well as Dr Michael L. Zettler (Leibnitz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemuende), Michael Korn (University of Konstanz, Limnological Institute), Holger Menzel-Harloff (Wismar), Dr Nicole Schröder-Rogalla (Munich), Dr Dilian Georgiev (University of Plovdiv), Reinhard Diercking (Hamburg) and Christa Schniebs (Oelsnitz) for the material collected and provided. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr André Reimann (Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden) who provided the SEM photographs. The comments of three anonymous reviewers allowed us to improve the manuscript.