Development and characterization of 24 microsatellite markers in a eublepharid gecko, Goniurosaurus kuroiwae

The Ryukyu ground geckos, which comprise Goniurosaurus kuroiwae (sensu stricto) and four close relatives in the Ryukyu Archipelago, face conservation threats, and are listed as endangered in the Red List of both IUCN and Japan. We developed 24 microsatellite markers in G. kuroiwae and cross-amplified for another species, G. orientalis. All 24 and 22 loci were successfully amplified and genotyped in G. kuroiwae and G. orientalis, respectively. The number of alleles per locus and expected heterozygosity at polymorphic loci ranged from 1 to 11 and 0.050–0.891, respectively, in G. kuroiwae, and ranged from 1 to 15 and 0.050–0.932, respectively, in G. orientalis.