Characterization of sixteen microsatellite loci from the marine gastropod Monetaria caputdraconis (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) by next generation sequencing

Abstract

Easter Island possess a unique marine biodiversity. Monetaria caputdraconis is important among these species due to its cultural and economic importance for the islanders. For this reason, a total of 16 microsatellite loci were characterized for this species. The mean number of alleles per locus in the 76 studied individuals was 11.25 (2-20 alleles per locus) and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.08 to 0.88. While none of the loci exhibited significant linkage disequilibrium, 9 showed departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The heterozygote deficit observed in M. caputdraconis has been described for other marine invertebrates with planktonic larval development.