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Phylogenetic position of endangered stygobitic bivalve Congeria kusceri and phylogeographic structure in Croatia based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers

Congeria kusceri Bole1962 is the only stygobitic bivalve in the world. It is endemic to Dinarides and lives in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Hercegovina. In Croatia it is recorded in a total of fifteen localities, but at most sites only shells were found. Live populations were documented in only five sites, but the surveys in 2008 revealed that the two populations disappeared. In addition to being strictly protected by the Croatian law, the species is listed in the Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive. Nevertheless, two out of three remaining populations could be facing serious destruction if not extinction in the near future. The reasons will be discussed. All this led to the enlistment of Congeria kusceri in the Red list of Croatian cave fauna in the IUCN category CR. Congeria kusceri is the only surviving species of the genus Congeria which was widespread in the tertiary. Its current distribution is quite disjunct. Mitochondrial 16S rRNA and COI and nuclear ITS and 18S rRNA markers were employed to examine the position of the genus within the family Dreissenidae as well as to infer the relations between different populations in Croatia. Our results support Congeria being the third extant genus of the family Dreissenidae as previous studies suggested. All four markers indicate that the population in Markov ponor (Lika region) is genetically distinct from the two populations in Neretva basin. These results are in congruence with biogeographical data since Markov ponor is several hundred kilometres away and hidrologically isolated from the rest of the localities. Molecular data as well as recent field research point out the need for protection of each individual population in Croatia

Congeria; Dinarides; phylogeny; stygobitic; endangered

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