Molecular Phylogeny of Neptunea (Gastropoda: Buccinidae) Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences, with Description of a New Species

Abstract

A molecular phylogeny based on sequence data from two mitochondrial genes (COI and 16S) is presented for the genus Neptunea, including the type species of all the three subgen-era. Our results support the previously recognized subdivision of Neptunea into three subgenera (Neptunea s.s., Barbitonia and Golikovia) based on the conchological and radular characters. The fossil record suggests that the divergence of the three subgenera occurred as early as the Late Oligocene to middle Miocene, and that the Atlantic N. antiqua diverged from western Pacific species well before the opening of the Bering Strait in the Pliocene. A new species, Neptunea mikawaensis, is described systematically.