Research Training Program

Julie Desmond
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts

M.G. Harasewych, Ph.D.
Project Advisor
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
Division of Mollusks

"I definitely feel that I have come away from the RTP with a broader base of knowledge in biology and natural history."

Patterns of Morphological and Genetic Diversity in the Florida Crown Conch, Melongena corna

Using morphometric and genetic methods, the goal of this project was to resolve phylogenetic relationships within the Melongena corona species complex. Preliminary morphometric analyses using the computer package CONCH, which utilizes the modified Raupian model of shell shape quantification, were successful in discerning putative subspecies based on their shell morphology. Genetic approaches involving the use of Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), a form of PCR, were unsuccessful due to our inability to extract DNA of sufficient purity for amplification via PCR. Further studies, involving additional populations and larger sample sizes, are planned.

This research was supported by a grant from the James Smithson Society.