MORPHOMETRIC VARIATION IN HALIOTIS-IRIS (MOLLUSCA, GASTROPODA) - ANALYSIS OF 61 POPULATIONS

Relationships of shell height, shell, width, shell weight, foot weight , dry foot weight, and total weight were examined with shell length fo r Haliotis iris from different localities. Mean length varied among 61 localities explaining more than 70% of the variation in the other par ameters which covaried with length. Significant sources of variation i n mean length included latitude (sea surface temperature) and relative exposure. Variation in all morphometric parameters occurred among loc alities but such variation, although significant, was generally not la rge (< 10 % of mean values). Although the spatial scales examined incl uded 100s of km, the largest morphometric variation shown was between neighboring localities (200 m apart). This and the high residual varia tion in any morphometric parameter for H. iris from any location indic ated that morphometric variation occurred over small spatial scales. T he suggestion that some localities of H. iris were ''stunted'' with sm all average lengths and had individuals with relatively peaked shells and greater weights compared with those from other localities, was not supported by our results.