THE GENETICS OF CALIFORNIA POPULATIONS OF THE BLUE MUSSEL - FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF ELECTROPHORETICALLY DISTINGUISHABLE SPECIES OR SUBSPECIES

Geographic variation in allele frequencies was studied for five polymorphic loci in Mytilus using electrophoresis. Eight populations of mussels were sampled from locations along the coast of California. Populations were found to be strongly differentiated into two groups based on multilocus genotypes. The patterns of differentiation between the two genetic forms of Mytilus conform with long recognized biogeographic boundaries along the coast of California. These findings confirm the results of other researchers that the cosmopolitan mussel, Mytilus edulis may actually be a complex of morphologically cryptic species, subspecies or varieties.