Isolation and characterization of 8 microsatellite loci for the "killer shrimp", an invasive Ponto-Caspian amphipod Dikerogammarus villosus (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Dikerogammarus villosus is a freshwater amphipod of the Ponto-Caspian origin recognized as one of the 100 worst alien species in Europe, having negative impact on biodiversity and functioning of the invaded aquatic ecosystems. The species has a wide ecophysiological tolerance and during the last 20 years it has rapidly spread throughout European inland waters. In consequence, it presents a major conservation management problem. We describe eight polymorphic microsatellite loci developed for D. villosus by combining a biotin-enrichment protocol and new generation 454GS-FLX Titanium pyrosequencing technology. When genotyped in 64 individuals from two locations, the loci exhibited a mean diversity of 4.87 alleles per locus (2-13). The mean observed and expected heterozygosities were, respectively, 0.439 (0.091-0.844) and 0.468 (0.089-0.843). Gametic disequilibrium was not detected for any pair of loci. The microsatellite markers will be a valuable tool in assessing the demographic processes associated with invasion of the killer shrimp from a genetic point of view.