Phenotypic Differentiation of Ecologically Significant Brachidontes Species Co-Occurring in Intertidal Mussel Beds from the Southwestern Atlantic

Intertidal communities from rocky shores of the southwestern Atlantic are dominated by two small-sized mussels of the genus Brachidontes, B. rodriguezii (d’Orbigny, 1846) and B. purpuratus (Lamarck, 1819). Their generic placement, separation of specimens based on external conchological characters an...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Adami, Mariana Laura, Pastorino, Roberto Santiago Guido, Orensanz, Jose Maria
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/3502
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/3502
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Brachidontes
Argentina
Taxonomy
Biogeography
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:Intertidal communities from rocky shores of the southwestern Atlantic are dominated by two small-sized mussels of the genus Brachidontes, B. rodriguezii (d’Orbigny, 1846) and B. purpuratus (Lamarck, 1819). Their generic placement, separation of specimens based on external conchological characters and geographic distribution are problematic. We conducted a comparative study based on extensive collections and observations at 14 sites along the coasts of the southwestern Atlantic, complemented by the study of materials from museum collections. Well-preserved specimens of the two species are distinguishable on the basis of shell characters, some of them previously ignored, over their combined latitudinal range.