Species Identification of Nacellidae Thiele, 1891 Family in Hormuz Island (Persian Gulf)

Gastropods are the largest group of molluscs, with the highest abundance and habitats diversity. The species diversity of true limpets (Nacellidae) in Hormuz Island was investigated by collecting 121 specimens belonging to this family from two stations in the intertidal zone in fall and winter 2016 and 2017. Morphological studies were carried out on the basis of shell morphological characteristics, foot color, radula structure. Besides, the molecular study was also performed using the cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (CO1) of the mitochondrial gene. The results of morphological studies indicate that all the specimens, despite having different phenotypes and differences in pattern and color of the shell traits, belonged to Cellana karachiensis which was also confirmed by the molecular finding. Therefore, the results of this study show various phenotypes for C. karachiensis, which also cast doubt on the taxonomic value for identification of this family, based on the color pattern, shell and radula traits.