Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of Pinna nobilis : New Genetic Signals from the Past of a Species on the Brink of Extinction.

Simple Summary: Pinna nobilis, a species of marine shellfish living in the Mediterranean Sea, is at a high risk of extinction due to a not-entirely-known disease that started affecting its populations in 2016. In this paper, we reported the main traits of its evolutionary history to understand how this species evolved over time and space from the moment its ancestor entered the Mediterranean. To achieve this goal, we analysed a total of 469 sequences from all over the Mediterranean Sea. Our research showed that P. nobilis evolved from its ancestor about 2.5 million years ago, following a rapid and catastrophic entry of waters from the Atlantic Ocean that pushed the P. nobilis ancestor into the Mediterranean around 5.3 million years ago. Our results also suggest that the central part of the western Mediterranean was the first marine area where this species settled and, later on, it spread to the Adriatic and the eastern part of the basin. This information is of twofold importance, as it helps us to understand how this species adapted to the Mediterranean over time and may be the basis of present and future restocking plans which want to take into consideration the reconstruction of pre-existing genetic variability. Pinna nobilis, commonly known as the noble pen shell, is a marine bivalve endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, due to a multifactorial disease that began affecting its populations in 2016, the species is currently facing the threat of extinction. To gain insights into the evolutionary history of P. nobilis before the mass mortality event (MME), and to obtain a comprehensive understanding of how evolutionary processes led to the adaptation of the species into the Mediterranean Sea, phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were carried out. The dataset analysed includes 469 sequences of COI gene fragment both from GenBank and the present study (100). The analysis performed evidenced that P. nobilis diverged about 2.5 mya, after the entrance of its ancestor into the Mediterranean Sea following the Zanclean flood (5.33 mya). Moreover, our results suggest that the starting point of colonisation was the central part of the western Mediterranean basin, with the eastern basin being populated subsequently. From a conservational viewpoint, these results provide important hints for present and future restocking plans, helping to reconstruct the pre-existing genetic variability in sites where the species became extinct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]