Development of fertilization incompatibility between two closely related Mytilus species

My thesis work has focused on mechanisms behind the development of a partial block to fertilization between Mytilus edulis and Mytilus trossulus. Interestingly, after nearly 3 million years of allopatric speciation these two species can still fertilize each other's gametes, and do so in a zone of secondary contact and hybridization from Maine to Newfoundland.

My thesis aims to understand which evolutionary mechanism(s) lead to partial incompatibility between these two species, and in a broader sense will help us understand the mechanisms of speciation, hybrid zone genetics and fertilization ecology.

Spawning mussels at Friedman Field Station, ME