Mitochondrial DNA Introgression in the European abalone Haliotis tuberculata tuberculata: evidence for experimental mtDNA paternal inheritance and a natural hybrid sequence.

Two subspecies of the European abalone have been morphologically recognized: Haliotis tuberculata tuberculata, present in the North Atlantic, and Haliotis tuberculata coccinea, present in the Canary Islands. Among the different nuclear markers used to differentiate these two subspecies, the sperm lysin gene was the most reliable, leading to a 2.2% divergence.