Chromosome analysis of three species of Patella (Archaeogastropoda)

Differences in karyotypic structure are compared with reported isozyme differences in three Mediterranean species of Patella. In addition, the karyotypic structure of Patella is discussed in terms of the karyotypic variability of Archaeogastropoda. Both P. lusitanica and P. caerulea have a haploid complement of n=9 (6 metacentric, 1 submetacentric, 1 subtelocentric, 1 telocentric chromosome in P. lusitanica and 6 metacentric, 1 submetacentric, 2 telocentric chromosome in P. caerulea). P. aspera, although regarded as morphologically more closely related to P. caerulea, has a haploid complement of only n=8 (7 metacentric and 1 submetacentric chromosomes). © 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers.