Inheritance of longitudinal shell bands in the snails Littorina obtusata and L. saxatilis (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia)

The hypothesis of a monogenic inheritance of dark longitudinal bands on the shell in the gastropods Littorina obtusata and L. saxatilis was checked. One gene having two alleles proved to be responsible for the shell banding pattern in both of the species. The presence of bands was a dominant character in either case.