Highly polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Acapulco damselfish, Stegastes acapulcoensis, and cross amplification in three congeneric species

In the present study we report a set of 13 novel microsatellites isolated from and characterized for the Acapulco damselfish Stegastes acapulcoensis, a species endemic to, but widely distributed within, the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) region. The loci were tested in 30 individuals from the Colombian Pacific and were highly polymorphic. The mean allele number per locus was 19.5 (+/- 4.03 SD) and the observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.192 to 1. Some of the loci were successfully cross-amplified and were polymorphic in three Stegastes species from the ETP: S. arcifrons, S. flavilatus and S. beebei (with 11, three and seven amplified loci, respectively). The high variability and cross-amplification success of the new set of microsatellites reported here allows these markers to be a useful resource for genetic studies of S. acapulcoensis and some of their congeners to address evolutionary, ecological and conservation-related questions in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.