Molecular phylogeny of some polychaete annelids : an initial approach to the Atlantic-Mediterranean speciation problem

The polychaete Eupolymnia nebulosa (family Terebellidae) displays two alternative modes of reproduction. In the Mediterranean, larvae are brooded in a mucous mass while in the Atlantic and English Channel, larvae follow a plank-tonic development. This paper attempts to discern whether this difference is expressed at the population, infraspecies, or species level. Specimens of E. nebulosa and representatives of a number of control species were sampled from Atlantic/English Channel and Mediterranean locations. Genetic sequencing of the Large-subunit ribosomal RNA 5' end of six representative species allowed one to infer the relative position of E. nebulosa within the Terebellidae and the position of the latter within the animal kingdom. The relative genetic distances calculated between the different species were also used to approach the speciation problem raised by the differences between the Mediterranean and Atlantic/English Channel population of E. nebulosa. The genetic distance between Mediterranean and Atlantic populations of both E. nebulosa and Lanice conchilega are of the same order, suggesting that differences between the populations of E. nebulosa are infraspecific.