Melanopsis etrusca is a local endemic species in the Melanopsidae, which is restricted to few thermal springs or their effluent rivulets or canals in a small region of the provinces Livorno and Grosseto in Tuscany, Italy. Historically M. etrusca has been reported from 11, possibly 12 populations, half of which have already gone extinct (EX, 4 populations during the twentieth century and another 2 in the last years) as a consequence of overexploitation of thermal springs for wellness uses (spas) in combination with water drainage and contamination caused by agricultural and mining activities. In the face of this considerable loss of populations we carried out a first genetic assessment of the remaining populations in order to get insights into population differentiation and population structure using mitochondrial as well as multilocus AFLP data. Our data suggest a clear differentiation into a western, a central and an eastern group of populations, which is largely consistent with a pattern of isolation-by-distance. Any reintroduction program should therefore be carefully planned according to the following criteria: (1) priority should be given to restocking actions that use specimens collected in the same stream, (2) cross-introduction programs should be considered only after the causes of decline have been removed/ceased and the whole resident population has gone EX, (3) the choice of specimens to be used for reintroduction programs should consider the adaptive (behavioural and physiological) and genetic affinity between source and EX populations.

Melanopsis etrusca是Melanopsidae的一种地方特有物种，在意大利托斯卡纳的Livorno和Grosseto省的一小部分地区，仅局限于少数温泉或它们的流出河流或运河。历史中号。埃特鲁斯卡据报道，有11个人口可能灭绝，其中一半已经灭绝（例如，二十世纪时有4个人口，最近几年又有2个人口灭绝），原因是对温泉的过度开发已将其用于健身用途（温泉）以及农业和采矿活动造成的排水和污染。面对如此大量的人口流失，我们使用线粒体和多位点AFLP数据对剩余的种群进行了首次遗传评估，以深入了解种群分化和种群结构。我们的数据表明，明显区分为西部，中部和东部人群，这与按距离隔离的模式基本一致。