Highly polymorphic microsatellite markers in two species, the invasive shore crabs Hemigrapsus sanguineus and Hemigrapsus takanoi (Decapoda, Varunidae)

• Published in: Conservation genetics resources 2015-06, Vol.7 (2), p.569-572
• Main Authors: Poux, Céline, Gothland, Moâna, Holl, Anne-Catherine, Spilmont, Nicolas, Arnaud, Jean-François
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Genetics and Genomics; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Coastal zone; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Decapoda; Ecology; Evolutionary Biology; Gene polymorphism; Genetic markers; Hemigrapsus; Hemigrapsus sanguineus; Heterozygosity; Indigenous species; Life Sciences; Microsatellite Letters; Microsatellites; Next-generation sequencing; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Population genetics; Population studies
• ISSN: 1877-7252; 1877-7260
• DOI: 10.1007/s12686-015-0426-6

Varunid crabs Hemigrapsus sanguineus and Hemigrapsus takanoi are species native from intertidal coastal areas in North-western Pacific and have become invasive along the Atlantic European coasts. To gain insights into population genetic features, we developed and characterized 16 ( H. sanguineus ) and 11 ( H. takanoi ) novel polymorphic microsatellite loci from next-generation sequencing. The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 20 for H. sanguineus , and from 8 to 21 for H. takanoi . Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.470 to 0.947 and from 0.313 to 0.781, with mean multilocus F is estimates suggesting rapid turnover of populations. Overall, these microsatellite markers showed very high levels of polymorphism that will facilitate population genetic studies devoted to track down the most likely sources of introduction.