Isolation and characterization of twenty-five novel microsatellite loci in Colorado pikeminnow, Ptychocheilus lucius, with cross-species amplification for eight other cyprinids

Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) is a federally endangered cyprinid endemic to the Colorado River system in the southwestern United States. Extant wild populations only occur in the upper basin, and a captive broodstock is maintained to supplement wild populations. Twenty-five species-specific polymorphic microsatellites were developed using Illumina paired-end sequencing. Across 32 samples, P. lucius exhibited 4–25 alleles per locus, and observed and expected heterozygosities per locus ranged from 0.625 to 1.000 and 0.685 to 0.934, respectively. Tests for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were non-significant. Cross amplification was characterized in eight other cyprinids. These microsatellite markers will be useful for genetic monitoring of P. lucius captive and wild populations as well as other cyprinids.