The Effects of Different Habitats and Morphological Variability on Cryptozona siamensis (Pfeiffer, 1856) in Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

Cryptozona siamensis is a species of snail found throughout Thailand which represents a potential plant pest. This snail has adapted to survive in various habitats, which might have impacted its genetics and shell morphology. To investigate this, we performed a detailed analysis of the snail and its habitat associations using DNA fingerprint analysis based on high annealing temperature randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (HAT-RAPD), cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) markers, genitalia and geometric morphometric analysis of shell shape. A total of 240 C. siamensis individuals were collected from two different habitats: limestone mountains and lowland. Geometric morphometric analysis of C. siamensis shell shape showed significant differences (P < 0.05) between the two habitat types. Moreover, HAT-RAPD, COI, and genitalia also showed significant differences. These results suggest that variation has occurred in C. siamensis snails from different habitats. This study may provide useful information for understanding the influence of ecology on genetic and morphological changes in some species of land snails.