Abstract
Three populations of Archachatina marginata snails (P1, P2 and P3) obtained from natural snail habitats located in three states of Nigeria (one population per state) namely Enugu, Edo and River States were evaluated for pre-mating reproductive isolation using mate-choice tests. Total number of mated snails were very small (19.2%) compared to the number tested. Mating propensity (MP) varied significantly (P ≤ 0.05) among snail populations in two test groups and observed MP in the test groups differed significantly (chi-square test, P 0.05; 0.001) from that expected under random mating. Pair formation was significantly (chi-square test, P  0.05; 0.001) influenced by differences in MP and within-population (homotypic) and between population (heterotypic) mating occurred in frequencies that differed significantly (chi-square test, P Ë‚ 0.05; 0.001) from that expected under random mating. Whereas observed heterotypic pair formation were less than that expected under random mating, homotypic pair formation were either equal or more than that expected under random mating. Duration of reproductive activities differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) among test populations. It was concluded that reduced pair formation, elongated duration of courtship, and reduced mating between populations of A. marginata, indicate partial or incomplete pre-mating reproductive isolation. Key words: Pre-mating isolation, mating propensity, mating duration, homotypic mating, heterotypic mating.
Highlights
Speciation is the process by which two species form from one (Grant and Grant, 2009)
Three populations of Archachatina marginata snails (P1, P2 and P3) obtained from natural snail habitats located in three states of Nigeria namely Enugu, Edo and River States were evaluated for pre-mating reproductive isolation using mate-choice tests
Pair formation was significantly influenced by differences in Mating propensity (MP) and within-population and between population mating occurred in frequencies that differed significantly from that expected under random mating
Summary
Speciation is the process by which two species form from one (Grant and Grant, 2009). Among the competing species concepts, the morphological (Darwin, 1859 in Abbott et al, 2008) and the biological (Mayr, 1942) species concepts are in the fore front with the biological species concept remaining the most contentious (Claridge et al, 1997; Via, 2002; Coyne and Orr, 2004; Abbott et al, 2008).
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