Development and characterization of eighteen microsatellites for endangered fish Huso dauricus

The Kaluga (Huso dauricus) is one of two species of Acipenseriformes endemic to the Amur River basin. Due to overfishing and environmental pollution, this species has been assessed as critically endangered by IUCN. In this study, eighteen polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed from an enriched genomic library for H. dauricus and characterized in thirty-one individuals. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to ten with an average of 5.056. The observed heterozygosity and the expected heterozygosity varied from 0.238 to 1.000 (mean = 0.780) and from 0.209 to 0.855 (mean = 0.661), respectively. These polymorphic loci will be valuable tools for the population genetic analysis and conservation of H. dauricus.