Abstract
Microsatellite markers were characterised in the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) from unpublished sequences generated from expressed sequence tags and bacterial artificial chromosomes. All seventeen of the loci screened were found to be polymorphic within the population of catsharks tested. The number of alleles identified varied between two and twelve per locus, and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.40 to 0.83. Evidence of null alleles was detected in two loci, while one locus showed significant deviation from expectations of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. There was no evidence of significant linkage between any loci. Cross-amplification was attempted in six other species of elasmobranch and success generally followed levels of taxonomic relatedness. These markers should be a powerful tool for population genetic and molecular studies of the small-spotted catshark, and may prove useful in other shark species.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all those who helped with sample collection. For genotyping we thank Jane Coghill and Keith Edwards of the Transcriptomics Facility, University of Bristol. Peter Holland provided invaluable advice from the outset. This work was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Oceans 2025 Strategic Research Programme Theme 6 (Science for Sustainable Marine Resources) in which DWS and MJG are Principal Investigators. Additional funding was provided by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. MJG was supported by a Great Western Research Fellowship and DWS by an MBA Senior Research Fellowship.
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Griffiths, A.M., Casane, D., McHugh, M. et al. Characterisation of polymorphic microsatellite loci in the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula L.). Conservation Genet Resour 3, 705–709 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-011-9438-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-011-9438-z