Studies on the speciation of Japanese freshwater planarian Polycelis auriculata based on the analysis of its karyotypes and constitutive proteins

Various kinds of chromosomal polymorphisms or karyotypic variations are found in the Japanese freshwater planarian Polycelis auriculata. Within this species, there are found worms whose chromosome numbers are 2n = 6, 10, 11, 12 and others, and 3x = 6 and 9. There are some which have cells with triploidy and tetraploidy complements (3x = 6 & 4x = 8), and others which have cells with triploidy and hexaploidy complements (3x = 6 & 6x = 12). These worms with such varied karyotypes are usually found in separate habitats, though occasionally they occur together. Electrophoretic analysis of the proteins extracted from the karyotipically different worms which belong to three different local populations shows some dissimilarity in the constitutive proteins according to their karyotypic differences. The results obtained suggest that this species is still in the process of speciation or chromosomal evolution.