ABR Vol 9 [5] September 2018 46 | P age ©2018 Society of Education, India Advances in Bioresearch Adv. Biores., Vol 9 (5) September 2018: 46-53 ©2018 Society of Education, India Print ISSN 0976-4585; Online ISSN 2277-1573 Journal’s URL:http://www.soeagra.com/abr.html CODEN: ABRDC3 DOI: 10.15515/abr.0976-4585.9.5.4653 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Evolution and Pattern of connectivity in some species of the genus Patella from the Algerian coast Zoheir BOUZAZA 1, 2 , Karim MEZALI 2, 1 Departement of Biology, 2 Protection, Valorization of Littoral Marine Resources and Molecular Systematic Laboratory. Department of Marine Sciences and Aquaculture, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, Mostaganem University. BP 227, Mostaganem, Algeria. Corresponding author: Zoheir BOUZAZA E-Mail: zoheir.bouzaza@univ-mosta.dz ABSTRACT The aim of this work is to study the phylogeny and the phylogeography of three species of limpets (Patella rustica, Patella ferruginea and Patella caerulea) living in the Algerian shore to understand the pattern of connectivity between populations by explaining the causes of their differences, their distribution and their responses to environmental change using the paleontological data. After identifying our species morphologically, we performed the molecular work (DNA extraction, PCR, DNA sequencing ...) using the mitochondrial marker Cytochrome Oxydase I (COI). Around 45 sequences of 584 bp of the COI portion were treated using some software (FinchTV, BioEdit, MEGA 5…). We noted that the genetic divergence and geographic distribution among species were consistent with some paleontological changes, which could be the cause of differences of the studied species. Keywords: Phylogeny, Phylogeography, Mitochondrial DNA, Paleontological changes, Limpets, Algerian coast. Received 12.05.2018 Revised 11.06.2018 Accepted 22.09.2018 How to cite this article: Zoheir Bouzaza, Karim Mezali. Evolution and Pattern of connectivity in some species of the genus Patella from the Algerian coast. Adv. Biores. Vol 9 [5] September 2018: 46-53. INTRODUCTION Marine organisms challenge the most common evolutionary and speciation models as they live in an environment devoid of dispersal barriers, and often have large populations and well-developed dispersal capabilities [1]. Mollusks of the genus Patella are very common marine gastropods living on rocky shores of the North East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea [2, 3]. Four species of the genus Patella could be found in the Algerian coast: Patella caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758); Patella ferruginea (Gmelin, 1791); Patella rustica (Linnaeus, 1758); Patella ulyssiponensis (Gmelin, 1791) [4]. The systematic distinction between all limpet species is mainly based on the morphology of their shell. But the different evolutionary changes, the morphological plasticity of its individuals lead to a considerable profusion in species and disagreement between the authors concerning their morphological diversity and their geographical distribution [5]. However, phylogeny can go further taxonomic boundaries based on morphological distinction [6]. Several studies have been carried out on the phylogeny of limpets in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic [7-11]. In the Algerian coast, we note only few studies realized by Mezali in 2007 [12] on the phylogeny of some inviduals of Patella ferruginea and Bouzaza in 2010 [13] on the phylogeny of some invertebrates including limpets. The aim of this work is to study the phylogeny and phylogeography of three Prosobranch gastropods (Patella rustica, Patella ferruginea and Patella caerulea) in order to understand the pattern of connectivity between their populations, explaining, through paleontological data, the causes of their differences, their distribution and their responses to environmental changes. Advances in Bioresearch