Isolation of eleven polymorphic microsatellite loci for the endangered Sillago parvisquamis and cross-species amplification with Sillago japonica

Abstract

Small-scale sillago, (Sillago parvisquamis) form the basis of a traditional recreational fishery in Japan. Historically distributed across a wide range, this species is now limited to a single population in the southwest region of the Suonada Sound in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Eleven candidate microsatellite loci were isolated from a small insert genomic DNA library of S. parvisquamis. In a screen of 40 individuals from Buzen Sea, we identified polymorphisms at all loci with levels of variability ranging from 2 to 20 alleles with no evidence of linkage disequilibrium. Observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.45 to 0.95, with no locus exhibiting significant departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. A test for cross-amplification with Sillago japonica revealed a subset of seven polymorphic loci that were successfully amplified. The polymorphic microsatellite loci developed in the current study will facilitate conservation genetic studies in both species, particularly the endangered S. parvisquamis.