A 560-base pair portion of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) from three morphologically similar mussels, Mytilus edulis, M. galloprovincialis, and M. trossulus, was amplified with the polymerase chain reaction, and 349 base pairs were sequenced. These data showed that this gene in M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis has not diverged; however, the north Pacific mussel, M. trossulus, showed fixed differences from M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis at 5 nucleotide positions. Furthermore, the population of M. trossulus at Tillamook Bay, Oregon, was found to contain two very divergent 16S rDNA genotypes that differ at 37 nucleotide positions. Thus, intraspecific variation in this gene in M. trossulus is greater than that seen interspecifically in M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis. Despite this large difference, in the absence of evidence of genetic isolation between these groups of M. trossulus, no taxonomic changes are proposed. These data are consistent with a north Pacific origin of the genus with subsequent dispersal to the Atlantic Ocean across the Artic Sea, giving rise to M. edulis in northern Europe and subsequently M. galloprovincialis in southern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.
