Diversity and Life-Cycle Analysis of Pacific Ocean Zooplankton by Videomicroscopy and DNA Barcoding: Gastropods

The life cycles and biodiversity of Pacific coast gastropods were analyzed by videomicroscopy and DNA barcoding of individuals collected from tide pools and in plankton nets from a variety of shore stations. In many species (Families Calyptraeidae, Cerithiopsidae, Strombidae, Vermetidae, Columbellidae, Nassariidae, Olivellidae, Hermaeidae, Onchidorididae, Gastropteridae, Haminoeidae), the free-swimming veligers were recovered from plankton collections; in Roperia poulsoni (family Muricidae) veligers were usually recovered from egg sacs where they had been retained although some escapees were found in plankton collections; in Pteropurpura festiva (family Muricidae) free-living veligers were also found; and in Atlanta californiensis (family Atlantidae) both veligers and adults were obtained from plankton collections making this a holoplanktonic species. The results confirm that DNA barcoding based on COI gene sequencing is a useful strategy to match life-cycle stages within species as well as to identify species and to document the level of biodiversity within the gastropods.