Joint research teams from Kochi University, Tohoku University, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies have found that the snail Batillaria attratus, which inhabits both Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, maintains its genetic diversity even after the huge tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.It was the first time in the world to elucidate the effects of a giant tsunami on the genetic diversity of coastal animals, and the research results were published in the international scientific journal "Scientific Reports."
According to the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Batillaria is a snail of the family Batillaria that is distributed in the tidal flats from Hokkaido to Kyushu.In the six tidal flats around Sendai Bay, such as Mangokuura in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, the majority of Batillaria attratus was killed by the huge tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the population was significantly reduced.
From 2004 to 2015, the research team collected Batillaria attratiflora from 6 tidal flats and analyzed simple repetitive sequences in the intracellular genetic information to investigate genetic diversity.After checking whether diversity was lost after the earthquake, the population was declining, but genetic diversity was not clearly reduced.
Geological studies have revealed that a huge tsunami rushed around Sendai Bay every 500 to 800 years.The research team believes that Batillaria has survived a tsunami like this one many times and has survived.Coastal organisms may also show that genetic diversity is not easily lost when populations decline due to a giant tsunami.
