The Impact of Yangtze River Discharge, Ocean Currents and Historical Events on the Biogeographic Pattern of Cellana toreuma along the China Coast

Abstract

The high nucleotide and gene diversity in the YS, with large pairwise genetic distances and relatively high percentages of variation among groups, suggests that this group was relatively isolated from ECS and SCS. This is likely driven by historic events, ocean currents, and demographic expansion. We propose that freshwater discharge from the Yangtze River, which may act as physical barrier limiting the southward dispersal of larvae from northern populations, is especially important in determining the separation of the YS group from the rest of the Chinese populations of C. toreuma.