Linking ecology, morphology, and metabolism: Niche differentiation in sympatric populations of closely related species of the genus ().

Divergence of ecological niches in phylogenetically closely related species indicates the importance of ecology in speciation, especially for sympatric species are considered. Such ecological diversification provides an advantage of alleviating interspecies competition and promotes more efficient exploitation of environmental resources, thus being a basis for ecological speciation. We analyzed a group of closely related species from the subgenus (genus , Caenogastropoda) from the gravel-bouldery shores.