Abstract
ABSTRACT Mosquitoes belonging to the Aedes mariae complex, including Aedes mariae (Sergent & Sergent), Aedes zammitii (Theobald), and Aedes phoeniciae (Coluzzi & Sabatini), are among the few animals inhabiting the extreme habitat of sea rock pools. Morphological analysis of these species and crossing experiments conducted in laboratory and natural conditions inferred the occurrence of three taxa with a parapatric distribution along the coasts of the Mediterranean Basin. To date, however, genetic characterization of the three species within the Ae. mariae complex and an assessment of their interspecific differentiation are lacking. In this study, we used both nuclear (i.e., 14 allozymic loci) and mitochondrial genetic markers (i.e., sequences of the cytochrome oxidase I and II genes) to genetically characterize the three species belonging to the complex. Then, we used mitochondrial markers to infer phylogenetic relationships between the species and estimate the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA). ...
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