Asaad Khattab TA- Shreyas Joshi BIO 303004 2/19/2014 Cepaea Nemoraliss Variation Based on Number of Bands and

Swirls Introduction Groove snails, Cepaea Nemoralis, are land snails that common throughout the country, Europe. Five types of groove snails located from different areas of Lexington were examined and observed in the lab. The snails were from Virginia Ave, Winchester and De Roode. Some were examined by the weight, vertical axis of shells, number of band, number of swirls, color, size, and striation. How were the variation different from one another? The variations were different based on what was recorded in the lab which was the stripes (number of bands) and the number swirls. Methods and Statistics The groove snails variation that were measured were the number of bands and number of swirls. Starting out with the Virginia Avenue samples, we counted the exact number of bands and the number of swirls. These traits measured were easy to distinguish between them The broken shells were removed from the experiment so they wont cause misrepresentations. There was a total of 56 unbroken shells in the Virginia Avenue population. The most of the Virginia Ave population which had zero stripes on them were 39. Twelve had one strip, four of them had two stripes, and one of them had 3 strips. The number of bands represent the number of lines the shell had starting from the inner to the outer apex. The equation used was,

Results

Number of Stripes on the Shells of the Groove Snails

60 55

50 39

40

Band Number

30 22 20 12 10 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5+ Virginia Ave 39 12 4 1 0 0 14 11 8 2 De Roode Sample B 14 22 8 18 2 4 4 4 3 1 18 1920

29 2122 15 8 8 1 0 Ancestor 29 15 8 8 1 0 7 6 1 0 0 Virginia Ave. B 55 7 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 Winchester 0 0 0 21 22 2 2

De Roode Sample C 19 20 4 11 3 1

Sample Size
0 1 2 3 4 5+

The results for the previous shows that the majority of the snails had no stripes on them for the Winchester, Virginia, and Ancestor avenues. Overall, the Virginia Avenue sample B had the most snails with no stripes. The De Roode Sample B had the most snails to more than five stripes on them.

Number of Swirls on the shells of the Groove Snails

60 53 50 45 45

40 34 30 22 33 30 25 17 14 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Virginia Ave 0 0 0 0 22 53 3 0 0 0 De Roode Sample B 0 0 0 8 34 25 2 8 5 2 0 0 0 De Roode Sample C 0 0 0 5 17 33 3 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Virginia Ave B 0 0 0 0 0 24 45 0 0 0 0 0 Winchester 0 0 0 0 0 24 45 24 24

Number of Swirls

20

Ancestor 0 0 0 2 14 30 2

Population Sample
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

The previous chart shows the number of swirls on the groove snails. The majority had five or more swirls. Virginia sample B and Winchester had the most number of swirls on them. There were no snails that had zero, one or two stripes on them. The minority had 3 swirls on them. The rest all had four or more swirls.

To apply them to the Chi-square test, the observed and expected numbers of bands in the Ancestral population were calculated. Number of Stripes on the Shells of the Groove Snails 0 1 2 3 4 Ancestral Observed 29 15 8 8 1 Population Frequency Expected 48% 25% 13% 13% 1.6% Percentage

5 0 0

Total 61

Degree of Freedom is 2 for 7.52.

Degree of Freedom is 1 for 4

Degree of Freedom is 1 for 1.92

Degree of Freedom is 1 for 1.92

Degree of Freedom is 0 for 1.92 for 0.225

The total x2 statistics is 16.

(x2=16, df=1, p<0.05)

Discussion and Conclusion

In conclusion, the population sample of the groove snails according to the variation and traits was very diverse. Depending on the place they live in Lexington, the snails may have a climate different in Winchester than in Virginia Ave. For example, they have different colors depending on the place they live which will help them camouflage. However, the observation was between the number of swirls and stripes. The swirls will protect them more due to the surface area. My results show that there are more than four swirls in each of the snails. This proves that it is essential and that the gene isnt turned off. If there was a difference between the ancestral or the current population then the ones with the least amount of swirls wont survive. For the snails that had swirls, all of them were related. The most different population was the Virginia avenue sample B which had the most zero stripes. The ancestral population was different for the reason that it had a variation in the number of stripes. The most informative trait was the swirls. It told much about the environment that they lived in.