Genetic evidence for long term persistence of marine invertebrate populations in an ephemeral environment

Abstract

Considers the case of the splash pool copepod Tigriopus californicus which inhabits the high intertidal and supralittoral zone along the coast of North America. It is ecologically restricted to pools occurring on rocky outcrops and the extinction and recolonization of Californicus subpopulations inhabiting individual pools occurs continuously. The results demonstrate that studied populations represent long-term isolated genetic lineages of copepods which retain their geographic identity. Recolonists of pools are shown to be either a subset of the same animals that got washed out of the pool in the first place or to be relatives of those animals which found local refuge in the lower intertidal zone.