Application of a Two-Dimensional Electrophoresis Method to the Systematic Study of Land Snails of Subgenus Luchuphaedusa from Southwestern Japan Islands

¹ Institute of Biological Sciences, The University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305, Japan

A land snail, Tyrannophaedusa (Luchuphaedusa) ophidoon (family Clausiliidae), is classified into two types, large and small forms, according to shell size. Using a two-dimensional electrophoresis method, we compared the total protein components of the large form with seven members of Luchuphaedusa and three species of different subgenera of the same genus, and obtained the similarity ranging from 0.989 to 0.667. The similarity between the large form and T. (Decolliphaedusa) bilabrata was the lowest. Two species of the other subgenus, Nesiophaedusa, were very similar to the large form. The differences were very small between two specimens of the large form. The small form of T. (L.) ophidoon showed large differences from the large form. Thus, the relationship of the large and small forms is considered to be either closely related interspecific populations or distantly differentiated intraspecific populations, by comparing our result with available data obtained previously. Based on values of the similarity obtained, we discuss possible colonization patterns in Luchuphaedusa.