Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers from the Korean common squid Todarodes pacificus (Ommastrephidae)

The common squid, Todarodes pacificus, is an important fisheries species, but fluctuations in its abundance and its reproductive biology are poorly understood. To enable sustainable management of this resource, 21 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated using an enrichment method based on the magnetic/biotin capture of microsatellite sequences from a size-selected genomic library. To characterize each locus, 48 individuals from a natural T. pacificus population from the western coastal waters of Korea were genotyped. All of the microsatellite loci were highly polymorphic with 10-32 alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.417 to 0.917 and 0.791 to 0.965, respectively. The high variability revealed in this study suggests that the microsatellite markers could be a useful tool for future conservation genetics studies and for the sustainable exploitation of this resource.