Molecular phylogeny reveals the polyphyly of the snail genus Cepaea (Gastropoda: Helicidae)

Abstract

Snails in the genus Cepaea are important model organisms in ecogenetic studies because of their colour and banding polymorphism. The monophyly of this group has been almost unanimously assumed based on superficial similarities in shell form and colouration. However, molecular phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial and nuclear sequences of 20 genera of Helicidae unequivocally demonstrated that Cepaea as currently understood is a polyphyletic assemblage. Only C. nemoralis and C. hortensis are retained in Cepaea, whereas C. vindobonensis is referred to Caucasotachea and C. sylvatica to Macularia based on our molecular phylogeny. Cepaea and Macularia belong to the western clade of the Helicinae, whereas Caucasotachea is nested in the eastern clade which probably diverged in the late Eocene. Because of the large phylogenetic distances between Cepaea, Macularia and Caucasotachea, it has to be shown whether the genetic mechanism underlying the simpler banding polymorphism in C. vindobonensis and M. sylvatica is a simpler version of the supergene that determines the polymorphism in Cepaea in the strict sense. This case illustrates the importance of sound phylogenetic analyses as a basis for any predictions in comparative biology.