Population genetic structure of veined rapa whelk communities in the northwestern Black Sea

Abstract

Spectra of isozymes encoded by alleles of eight different genetic loci have been analyzed in order to characterize the genetic structure of different rapa whelk communities in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. The distribution of genotypes and the corresponding alleles deviated significantly from that predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg equation in the case of four of the eight loci investigated. Rapa whelk communities investigated were characterized by slight predominance of heterozygotes over homozygotes, this being indicative of the absence of close inbreeding among the members of specific communities. F- and G-statistics and the calculation of genetic distances according to the method developed by Nei showed that genetic differentiation between rapa whelk communities from different aquatories was insignificant.