Characterisation and cross-amplification of 19 novel microsatellite loci for the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus

Abstract

Conservation of vulnerable shark species that are also heavily exploited, such as the sandbar shark Carcharhinus plumbeus is a pressing issue, and molecular genetics is an increasingly important population monitoring and species identification tool. Here we present 19 C. plumbeus microsatellite loci with a broad range of alleles per locus (3–22), and observed heterozygosities (0.17–0.95). Null alleles were not apparent and if present, were at frequencies <0.041. None of the loci showed significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium or indications of linkage disequilibrium. Cross-species amplification of these loci in three other carcharinids, dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus, spinner shark Carcharhinus brevipinna, and galapagos shark Carcharhinus galapagensis showed polymorphism in 13, 13, and 14 loci respectively. These highly diverse loci will assist both individual-specific and population-wide genetic investigations for these species.