Discriminant-based study of the shell morphometric relationships of Patella caerulea (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) of the western Mediterranean Sea

Our work is a contribution to the study of the morphometric dissimilarity of the limpet Patella caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758)inhabiting the seashore of the western Mediterranean Sea. For this study, 438 individuals of this species were sampled in 24 stations andseparated into 2 groups of individuals: the first group (G1) originating from the upper infralittoral and the lower mediolittoral areas,and the second group (G2) originating from the upper mediolittoral area. The biometry of P. caerulea has been studied by consideringthe total length (L), the total width (W), and the total height (H) of the shell. These parameters revealed a strong positive correlation,and were used for the principal component analysis (PCA). Other combined parameters (L/W, L/H, and W/H) were added for thediscriminant function analysis (DFA). Both multivariate analyses showed that both groups (G1 and G2) were well separated. Themorphometric survey based on the calculation of the geometric mean (GM) and the gibbosity index (GIB) revealed the existence ofa morphological dissimilarity between the shells of groups G1 (flattened and stocky) and G2 (high and short). This morphologicaldissimilarity is discussed and compared with the results of other works on the same species and other related species.

PDF

___

Bacci G (1947). L’inversione del sesso ed il ciclo stagionale della gonade in Patella caerulea L. Pubbl Staz Zool Napoli 21: 183- 217 (article in Italian).
Bachnou A, Boughdiri M (2005). Morphométrie des brachiopodes par modélisation mathématique combinée des tracés ouvert et fermé. Exemple d’application parmi les Terebratulidae du Jurassique moyen. Rev Paléo biol 24: 789-802 (article in French).
Balaparameswara Rao M, Ganapati PN (1971). Ecological studies on tropical limpet, Cellana radiata. Structural variations in the shell in relation to distribution. Mar Biol 10: 236-243.
Belkhodja H, Romdhane MS (2012). Étude morphométrique du mollusque Gastéropode Patella caerulea Linnaeus, 1758 des côtes nord de la Tunisie. SCI Techno Mer 39: 15-23 (article in French).
Boukhicha J, Tlig SZ, Ben Hassine OK (2010). Diversité morphométrique de Patella caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758) du littoral rocheux des côtes tunisiennes. Rapp Comm Int Mer Medit 39: 722 (article in French).
Bouzaza Z (2012). Contribution à l’étude systématique, phylogénétique et phylogéographique de quelques espèces de patelles (Gastropoda: Patellidae) de la zone intertidale de la côte algérienne. Thèse de Magister, Université Abdelhamid Ibn Badis, Mostaganem, Algerie (article in French).
Branch GM (1981). The biology of limpets: physical factors, energy flow and ecological interactions. Oceanogr Mar Biol A Rev 19: 235-380.
Branch GM (1985). Limpets: their role in littoral and sublittoral community dynamics. In: Moore PG, Seed R, editors. The Ecology of Rocky Coasts. London: Hodder and Stroughton, pp. 97-113.
Breen PA (1971). Homing behavior and population regulation in the limpet Acmea (Collisella) digitalis. Veliger 15: 133-141.
Christiaens J (1973). Révision du genre Patella (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Bull Mus Hist Nat 182: 1305-1392 (article in French).
Cretella M, Scillitani G, Toscano F, Turella P, Picariello O, Cataudo A (1994). Relationships between Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 and the other Tyrrhenian species of Patella (Gastropoda: Patellidae). J Mollusc Stud 60: 9-17.
David B, Fouray M (1984). Variabilité et disjonction évolutive des caractères dans les populations de Micraster (Echinoidea, spatangoida) du Crétacé supérieur de Picardie. Geobios-Lyon 17: 447-476.
Della Santina P, Sonni C, Sartoni G, Chelazzi G (1993). Food availability and diet composition of three coexisting Mediterranean limpets (Patella spp.). Mar Biol 116: 87-95.
Espinosa F, Ozawa T (2006). Population genetics of the endangered limpet Patella ferruginea (Gastropoda: Patellidae): taxonomic conservation and evolutionary considerations. J Zool Syst Evol Res 44: 8-16.
Espinosa F, Rivera-Ingraham, Fa D, Garcia-Gomez Jc (2009). Effect of human pressure on population size structures of the endangered ferruginean limpet: toward future management measures. J Coastal Res 25: 857-863.
Fekih M, Gougerot L (1974). Liste commentée des Gastéropodes testacés marins recueillis dans les dépôts littoraux actuels du Golfe de Tunis. Bull Inst Natl Sci Techn Océanogr Pêche Salammbo 3: 165-232 (article in French).
Fischer-Piette E, Gaillard J (1959). Les Patelles au long des côtes Atlantiques Ibériques et nord Marocaines. J Conchol 99: 135- 200 (article in French).
Frenkiel L (1975). Contribution à l’étude des cycles de reproduction des Patellidae en Algérie. Pubbl Staz Zool Napoli 39: 153-189 (article in French).
Gérard A (1978). Recherches sur la variabilité de diverses populations de Ruditapes decussatus et Ruditapes philippinarum. PhD, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France (in French).
Gray DR, Hodgson AN (2003). Growth and reproduction in the highshore South African limpet Helicon pectunculus (Mollusca: Patellogastropoda). Afr Zool 38: 371-386.
Guelorget O, Perthuisot J-P (1983). Le domaine paralique : expressions géologiques, biologiques et économiques du confinement. Travaux du laboratoire de géologie. 16th edition. Paris, France: Presse de l’école normale supérieure (in French). Hakenkamp CC, Morin A (2000). The importance of meiofauna to lotic ecosystem functioning. Freshw Biol 44: 165-175.
Jarne P, Berrebi P, Guelorget O (1988). Variabilité génétique et morphométrique de cinq populations de palourdes Ruditapes decussatus (mollusque, bivalve). Oceanol Acta 11: 401-407 (article in French).
Jerardino A, Navarro R (2008). Shell morphometry of seven limpet species from coastal shell middens in southern Africa. J Archaeol Sci 35: 1023-1029.
Koufopanou V, Reid DG, Ridgway SA, Thomas RH (1999). A molecular phylogeny of the Patellid limpets (Gastropoda: Patellidae) and its implications for the origins of their antitropical distribution. Mol Phylogenet Evol 11: 138- 156.
Little C, Kitching JA (1996). The biology of rocky shores. Lwnnol Oceanogr 41: 1584-1585.
Matousek J, Nesetril J (2004). Introduction aux mathématiques discrètes. 1st edition. New York: Springer Science and Business Media (in French).
Mezali K (2007). État de pollution de la côte de Mostaganem et étude systématique et écologique de la patelle géante Patella ferruginea (Gmelin, 1791) dans la zone de Stidia (Algérie). 7ème Congrès Maghrébin des Sciences de la Mer et le 1er Congrès Franco-Marocain de Zoologie et d’Ichtyologie. El Djadida, Morocco; 4–7 November 2007 (in French).
Moreteau JC, Vicente N (1988). Étude morphologique et croissance de Pinnanobllis L. (Mollusque eulamellibranche) dans le Parc national sous-marin de Port-Cros (Var, France). Rapp Commint Mer Médit 31: 2 (in French).
Nakhle KF (2003). Le mercure, le cadmium et le plomb dans les eaux littorales libanaises: apport et suivi au moyen de bioindicateurs quantitatifs (éponges, bivalves et gastéropodes). PhD, Université Denis Diderot, Paris, France (in French).
Pandita H, Zaim Y, Aswan, Rizal Y (2013). Relationship of biometrical aspect of Turritellidae with geochronological aspect in West Java. Int J Geosci 4: 777-784.
Ridgway SA, Reid DG, Taylor JD, Branch GM, Hodgson AN (1998). A cladistic phylogeny of the family Patellidae: (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Philos T Roy Soc B 353: 1645-1671.
Rivera-Ingraham GA, Espinosa F, Garcia-Gomez JC (2011). Ecological considerations and niche differentiation between juvenile and adult black limpets (Cymbula nigra). J Mar Biol Assoc UK 91: 191-198.
Santini G, Thompson RC, Tendi C, Hawkins SJ, Hartnoll RG, Chelazzi G (2004). Intra-specific variability in the temporal organisation of foraging activity in the limpet Patella vulgata. Mar Biol 144: 1165-1172.
Saporta G (2006). Probabilités, analyse des données et statistique. 2nd ed. Paris, France: Technip (in French).
Saucède T, Bonnot A, Marchand D, Courville P (2013). A revision of the rare genus Cyclolampas (Echinoidea) using morphometrics with description of a new species from the upper Callovian of Burgundy (France). J Paleontol 87: 105-121.
Shotwell JA (1950). Distribution of volume and relative linear measurement changes in Acmaea, the limpet. Ecology 31: 51- 61.
Silva ACF, Hawkins SJ, Boaventura DM, Thompson RC (2008). Predation by small mobile aquatic predators regulates populations of the intertidal limpet Patella vulgata (L.) J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 367: 259-265.
Stephenson TA, Stephenson A, Day JH (1940). The South African intertidal zone and its relation to ocean currents. VIII. Lamberts Bay and the west coast. Ann Natal Mus 9: 345-380.
Stephenson TA. Stephenson A (1954). Life between tide-marks in North America. IIIA. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island: description of the region. J Eco 42: 14-45.
Tablado A, Lopez-Gappa J (2001). Morphometric diversity of the pulmonate limpet Siphonaria lessoni in different coastal environments. Sci Mar 65: 33-41.
Vermeij GJ (1972). Intraspecific shore-level size gradients in intertidal molluscs. Ecology 53: 693-700.
Vermeij GJ (1973). Morphological patterns in high intertidal gastropods: adaptive strategies and their limitations. Mar Biol 20: 319-346.