Characterization of 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci from invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles)

Lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) are the first non-native marine reef fish to become established in the Western North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. Next-generation sequencing techniques were employed to identify 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci for P. volitans and P. miles from waters off North Carolina, USA. Allele frequencies for all 18 loci conformed to Hardy–Weinberg expectations after correction for multiple comparisons, the number of alleles ranged from 2 to 20 (mean = 7.1), and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.200 to 0.938 (mean H_o = 0.636). All 18 loci cross-amplified DNAs from representative haplotypes of both P. volitans and P. miles, and the vast majority of alleles were shared. These are the first highly polymorphic nuclear markers described for invasive lionfish and will be useful for characterizing population connectivity and monitoring the progress of the invasion on reef habitats of the Western Atlantic.