LAUSR

ABSTRACT Melampus bidentatus was recently divided into three genetically divergent cryptic species: Melampus bidentatus , Melampus jaumei, and Melampus gundlachi . We have assembled and annotated a mitochondrial genome for each of these species. Comparisons with other taxa showed that these three species possess a gene order that is distinct from the conserved gene order found in the six (out of nine available) Ellobiid genera. Among the species with a derived gene order, mean nucleotide divergence over all genes was on average 1.57× higher than among mitogenomes with the conserved gene order. This suggests varying evolutionary rates of mitochondrial genes in this family.