Identification and characterization of 12 tetranucleotide microsatellite markers in the white-spotted char Salvelinus leucomaenis

Abstract

The white-spotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis) is an important species for Japanese fisheries, with a biogeographic range from Kamchatka in the Russian Federation to the Chugoku district in Japan. The population is decreasing owing to environmental changes and fishing pressure. Therefore, detailed information on this species is required to develop effective conservation strategies and harvesting practices. To provide tools for addressing the ecology and management for this species, we developed 12 polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellite markers, which were optimized into four multiplexes. No null alleles were detected at any locus. The number of alleles per locus, and observed and expected heterozygosities across two populations were 1–19, 0.000–1.000, and 0.000–0.938, respectively. No significant linkage disequilibrium or departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was detected. These loci will be useful for conducting population genetics studies in this species.