Polyploid races, genetic structure and morphological features of the earthworm Octodrіlus transpadanus (Rosa, 1884) (Oligohaeta: Lumbricidae) in the Ukraine

Abstract

Kariological investigation of the earthworm Octodrilus transpada-nus (Rosa, 1884) in the Ukraine showed that this species is represented by at least three races of different ploidy with the basic chromosome number n=15. Strict geographic heterogeneity of electrophoretic spectra of different populations was registered: south-eastern populations (7n=105) are characterized by a clonal structure, whereas western (from 3n = 45 to 4n = 60) and south-western (2n=30) ones have a high level of polymorphism. The Crimea sample (4n=60) is well isolated, has no clonal structure and is characterized by a series of specifi c alleles , which are absent in forms from continental Ukraine. All the forms turned out to be wel