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ARTICLE

Karyotype description of Pomacea patula catemacensis (Caenogastropoda, Ampullariidae), with an assessment of the taxonomic status of Pomacea patula

MARÍA ESTHER DIUPOTEX-CHONG¹, NÉSTOR J. CAZZANIGA², ALEJANDRA HERNÁNDEZ-SANTOYO³, JOSÉ MIGUEL BETANCOURT-RULE⁴

1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510. México, D.F.
2. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur. San Juan 670, 8000 Bahía Blanca. Argentina.
3. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa. Iztapalapa 09340. México, D.F.
4. Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510. México, D.F.
Address correspondence to: Dra. María Esther DiupotexChong. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510. MEXICO, D.F. FAX: (+52-55) 616 0847. E-mail: medc@mar.icmyl.unam.mx

BIOCELL 2004, 28(3), 279-285. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2004.28.279

Abstract

Mitotic chromosomes of the freshwater snail Pomacea patula catemacensis (Baker 1922) were analyzed on gill tissue of specimens from the type locality (Lake Catemaco, Mexico). The diploid number of chromosomes is 2n = 26, including nine metacentric and four submetacentric pairs; therefore, the fundamental number is FN = 52. No sex chromosomes could be identified. The same chromosome number and morphology were already reported for P. flagellata, i.e., the other species of the genus living in Mexico. The basic haploid number for family Ampullariidae was reported to be n° =°14 in the literature; so, its reduction to n° =°13 is probably an apomorphy of the Mexican Pomacea snails. Lanistes bolteni, from Egypt, also shows n°=°13, but its karyotype is much more asymmetrical, and seems to have evolved independently from P. flagellata and P. patula catemacensis. The nominotypical subspecies, P. patula patula (Reeve 1856), is a poorly known taxon, whose original locality is unknown. A taxonomical account is presented here, and a Mexican origin postulated as the most parsimonious hypothesis.

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