Isolation and characterization of fifteen polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellite loci in Schizopygopsis younghusbandi Regan

Schizopygopsis younghusbandi Regan is an important endemic fish in Tibet, China. Its wild population has been rapidly declining for the past few decades due to overfishing, dam construction and invasion of exotic fishes. To conserve natural resources and develop breeding stocks of S. younghusbandi, fifteen polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized in 45 individuals collected from the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 6 to 32 with an average of 17.87. The expected heterozygosity and Shannon–Wiener diversity index ranged from 0.454 to 0.951 and from 0.931 to 3.201, respectively. These microsatellite loci will be useful for future population genetic analysis and resource conservation of S. younghusbandi.