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ABSTRACT Many coastal marine species experienced Pleistocene gene flow between the North Pacific and Atlantic. Understanding historical connectivity between ocean basins should aid in predicting how regional faunas will respond to recent warming that has intensified trans‐Arctic dispersal. Wetland fauna of the Northwestern Atlantic may have survived in estuarine refugia throughout glacial cycles, or recolonised from the southern coast, North Pacific or Northeastern Atlantic. Here, we used multilocus genetic markers and historical climate data to investigate lineage distribution and connectivity among populations of the nominally cosmopolitan sea slugAlderia modesta, sampled from mudflats on both coasts of the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Mitochondrial DNA clades from European and North American populations were deeply divergent and reciprocally monophyletic; differences at seven polymorphic nuclear loci indicated prolonged absence of trans‐Atlantic gene flow. A Pacific ancestor likely first colonised the Atlantic during the marine biotic interchange of the middle Pliocene ~3.5 Ma. Both mtDNA phylogenetics and nuclear genotype assignments support repeated trans‐Arctic colonisation of the Northwestern Atlantic from the Pacific during inter‐glacial cycles; no gene flow was evident since the last glacial maximum, however. Time‐calibrated coalescent phylogenies, Bayesian skyline plots and haplotype networks all indicated recent population expansions in the Pacific and Europe, but not Northwestern Atlantic. In both the Pacific and Northwestern Atlantic, older lineages persisted in patchy refugia north of glacial margins, while a derived clade of Pacific haplotypes indicates northward post‐LGM expansion. The biogeographical history ofAlderiacontrasts with rocky‐shore taxa that were largely extirpated by glacial advance and recolonised from refugia following the last glacial maximum. Based on molecular differences and distinctions in radular and penial stylet morphology, we resurrect the nameAlderia harvardiensisGould 1870 forAlderiafrom the Northwestern Atlantic and North Pacific;A. modestarefers exclusively to European slugs. 

Abstract The discovery of bivalved sea slugs in the family Juliidae revolutionized our understanding of shell evolution in molluscs. However, relationships among lineages remain unclear, with generic names shared by extant and fossil taxa. Juliidae provide important fossil calibration points for dating phylogenies and for understanding the convergent evolution of a bivalved shell. Here, we present a revision of the systematics and classification of members of the Juliidae including Recent and fossil taxa by integrating molecular data from five genes, geometric morphometrics, and anatomical data. A list of all juliid taxa previously described is provided, along with diagnoses and remarks on genus-level names. Results from a geometric morphometric analysis support a new classification scheme, in which the genus Berthelinia, previously used for Recent and fossil taxa, is restricted to fossil species, and the genera Julia and Edenttellina are used exclusively for Recent species. Species of Edenttellina supported by molecular analyses are illustrated and anatomical details provided, including examination of protoconchs, radular teeth, and reproductive structures by scanning electron microscopy, along with illustrations of existing type material. Distinct biogeographical patterns in Julia and Edenttellina are discussed in the context of ecological differences between these two taxa, including host specificity and developmental mode.