Experimental interbreeding between geographically separated populations of the marine wood-boring isopod Limnoria tripunctata with preliminary indications of hybrid vigor

Abstract

Populations of the marine wood-boring isopod Limnoria tripunctata Menzies were cultivated and interbred in the laboratory in order to determine whether geographically separated populations would interbreed. Two series of interbreeding studies were conducted. In the first, field populations from 11 Atlantic and Caribbean sites and 3 Pacific sites were interbred with a North Western Atlantic population from Beaufort, North Carolina (USA). Viable crossings, to at least F 1, occurred in all but one case—that of a BeaufortxChatham (Massachusetts, USA) cross. In the second series of experiments, field populations from 9 Atlantic and Caribbean sites were crossed with populations from St. Teresa, Florida, Gulf of Mexico. In this case also, all crosses except one produced viable offspring, not only to the F 1, but to the F 2 generations as well. The St. Teresa x Chatham cross was not successful. Geographic distance was not a factor in the success of crossbreeding between disjunct populations. Chatham populations (mainly) are now believed to represent a valid but previously obscure species, Limnoria tuberculata Sowinski, and not a variant of L. tripunctata Menzies. Enhanced viality or vigor, as determined from rate of wood destruction, population growth rate and survival, was indicated in several crossings, but this was not necessarily correlated with distance between populations. Observations were made on the manner in which the species has achieved a worldwide distribution, and a hypothesis is put forward to explain the evolution of species related to L. tripunctata.