On the genetic diversity and protoconch variability of snails of the genus Caspiohydrobia Starobogatov, 1970 (Caenogastropoda: Hydrobiidae)

The genus Caspiohydrobia belongs to the less-known taxa of the family Hydrobiidae. According to a conchologically-based system, developed in the 1970-1980s by Yaroslav I. Starobogatov and his co-authors, the genus includes around 30 living species. However, the most recent data based on molecular evidence indicate that most (if not all) of these morpho-species should be considered junior synonyms of a widely distributed species, Ecrobia grimmi. However, the vast majority of nominal species described in the genus Caspiohydrobia have never been reassessed by molecular taxonomic methods. In this work, the genetic diversity of Caspiohydrobia spp. was studied based on a large sample taken in Lake Elanach in the Kurgan region (Trans-Urals, Russia). Conchological analysis made it possible to identify 7 nominal species of the genus Caspiohydrobia in the sample, whereas genetically all the studied individuals were the same, sharing a single COI haplotype. A phylogenetic tree of Ecrobia spp. has shown that all studied genetically specimens of Caspiohydrobia (including newly sequenced ones) forms a separate cluster on a cladogram, which can be identified as Ecrobia grimmi s. lato. However, a higher genetic diversity was revealed in a population of Caspiohydrobia spp., from a lake adjacent to the Caspian Sea (West Kazakhstan). Distinct morphotypes in the structure of the protoconch were found in samples of Caspiohydrobia spp. from the Caspian and Aral Seas. Although the characteristics of the protoconch (size, sculpture) do not give grounds to distinguish ‘good’ species within the group, the genetic and morphological diversity described in this work makes it possible to assume the ongoing microevolutionary processes within the discussed group and, possibly, the existence of young (incipient) species in Central Asia. Based on the study of the morphology of the protoconch, it has been suggested that the development of molluscs of the genus Caspiohydrobia (= Ecrobia, partim) can include the free-swimming larval stage; this hypothesis is, however, not supported by other evidence and needs to be carefully verified.