Development of 20 microsatellite loci in the Japanese mitten crab Eriocheir japonica and cross-amplification in the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

The Japanese mitten crab (Eriocheir japonica) is a catadromous species endemic to East Asia with the widest distribution of all species in the mitten crab taxonomy. To date, no novel microsatellite loci for this species have been reported. Twenty polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated, and cross-amplification was conducted in the Yangtze and Yellow River populations of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis). Four loci were found to deviate significantly from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Similar numbers of alleles, mean observed (H O) and expected (H E) heterozygosities, mean gene diversity, and inbreeding coefficients (F IS) were detected in the two populations of E. sinensis. We concluded that this suite of microsatellite loci was successful for cross-amplification in E. sinensis and might be useful for the assessment of population structure of the mitten crab.