Genetic diversity of the Aporrectodea caliginosa complex in Russia

Earthworms of the Aporrectodea caliginosa species complex are abundant in many anthropogenic and natural habitats and often predominate in earthworm communities. In Russia, there are two subspecies of the complex, A. c. caliginosa and A. c. trapezoides; Aporrectodea longa was also recently mentioned as a putative member of the complex. In this study, we made an attempt to review available data on the species complex studied based on our collection from Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The subspecies A. c. caliginosa is represented in Russia by two genetic lineages, 2 and 3, the former being the prevalent (about 73 % of the total sample). Additionally, these lineages have different distributions: while lineage 2 was found in almost all locations studied, lineage 3 was detected only in a few samples from the periphery of the region studied. The genetic diversity of lineage 2 significantly exceeded that of lineage 3, and its estimated divergence time was almost three times as high. A subset of individuals with pigmentation characteristic of A. c. caliginosa contained cox1 haplotypes of A. c. trapezoides; analysis of nuclear gene sequences confirmed this diagnosis. Thus, pigmentation intensity in this subspecies was demonstrated to vary to a significant degree. In addition, we analyzed two A. longa individuals from West Siberia and the Urals; their cox1 sequences were identical to those from the lineage 1 of this species from the north of Western Europe. These are the first reports of A. c. trapezoides and A. longa from West Siberia. On the whole, both genetic diversity and abundance was shown to decrease in the following series: A. c. caliginosa lineage 2 – A. c. caliginosa lineage 3 – A. c. trapezoides and A. longa.

earthworms, peregrine species, Lumbricidae, Russia, cox1, cytochrome oxidase

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