Dominant gingers: discovery and inheritance of a new shell polymorphism in the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Abstract

Color polymorphism is a classic study system for evolutionary genetics. One of the most color-polymorphic animal taxa is mollusks, but the investigation for the genetic basis of color determination is often hindered by their life history and limited availability of genetic resources. Here we report on the discovery of shell color polymorphism in a much-used model species, the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. While their shell is usually beige, some individuals from a Greek population show a distinct red shell color, which we nicknamed Ginger. Moreover, we found that the inheritance fits simple, single-locus Mendelian inheritance with dominance of the Ginger allele. We also compared crucial life history traits between Ginger and wild type individuals, and found no differences between morphs. We conclude that the relative simplicity of this polymorphism will provide new opportunities for a deeper understanding of the genetic basis of shell color polymorphism and its evolutionary origin.