Characterisation of 30 microsatellite loci for the Tehuelche scallop, Aequipecten tehuelchus (d’Orbigny, 1842) and their use for estimating demographic parameters relevant to fisheries management

DOMÍNGUEZ-CONTRERAS, JOSÉ FRANCISCO; MUNGUÍA-VEGA, ADRIÁN; GETINO-MAMET, LEANDRO NICOLÁS; SORIA, GASPAR; PARMA, ANA

MOLLUSCAN RESEARCH

MAGNOLIA PRESS

Lugar: Auckland; Año: 2017 vol. 38 p. 163 - 169

1323-5818

Aequipecten techuelchus is an endemic scallop of the Argentine biogeographic province in the southwest Atlantic Ocean which supports a commercial fishery that has presented strongfluctuations since the 1960s. It is unclear if distinct localities constitute a single panmicticpopulation. We used next-generation sequencing to obtain microsatellite loci that could beused to evaluate genetic diversity and differentiation among populations. We developed 30polymorphic microsatellite loci, of which 13 meet the standard criteria required forpopulation genetic analyses, including Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, not being linked andwith a low frequency of null alleles. The described microsatellite loci were used to estimaterelatedness and effective population size, and to test for recent and historic populationbottlenecks. Our results suggest that the population of the Tehuelche scallop from SanRomán, Gulf of San José, Patagonia shows a relatively large effective population size, highlevels of genetic polymorphism, low levels of inbreeding and no signs of recent or historicdrastic population reductions. These preliminary results should be confirmed with largersample sizes and the inclusion of other nearby populations.