Maria de Fatima Rivera Poma - Genomic analysis of the diversification and species boundaries within the Megalobulimus genus (Gastropoda: Mollusca)

Megalobulimus snails sold in a local street market in Tarapoto, San Martin region, Peru.

Host institution and supervisors
Michael Martin and Jaime Morin. NTNU, Norway. 2023-2025.

Home institution and supervisors
Rina Ramirez. UNMSM, Peru.

Project description
Land snails are one of the most diverse groups of mollusks. However, there are still gaps in our knowledge about their taxonomy since a considerable number of species remain undescribed. This research project will focus on the land snails of Peru, a megadiverse country known to host at least 763 species of land snails, which represents 38% of the total estimated diversity in South America.

The genus Megalobulimus (Miller, 1878) represents the largest edible snails in the Americas, and more than half of its Peruvian species are found in the Andes. These land snails have been used as food since ancient times. In Peru, they are even sold in open markets and restaurants of the Amazonian region, making them an important part of regional gastronomy. The relationships of Megalobulimus to other genera are still uncertain because most Megalobulimus descriptions are mainly based on conchological characters that are highly variable between these species. Faced with this taxonomic difficulty, there is a need to generate new knowledge through genetics and molecular data.

The goals of this project are to reveal evolutionary patterns within the Megalobulimus genus and gain a deeper understanding of their species richness through the use of genome skimming, mitochondrial genome assembly and phylogsnetics, and nuclear genome-based population genetics.