Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for the toadfish Aphos porosus

Abstract

The toadfish Aphos porosus is a coastal benthic-demersal fish from the Southeastern Pacific coast. This species exhibits parental care and low dispersal potential, and it is subjected to bycatch by artisanal and industrial fisheries, which make A. porosus a susceptible species in conservation terms. In this work we present 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci for this species. Allelic richness varied between 2 and 8 alleles and observed heterocigocity ranged between 0.026 and 0.737. Fourteen of the 18 loci were unlinked, polymorphic and in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The non-exclusion probability over all loci was very low (0.0013). These loci show potential for population genetic analyses, for studying reproductive strategies and supporting conservation policies for this species.