Microsatellite markers for the notothenioid fish Lepidonotothen nudifrons and two congeneric species

Loss of genetic variability due to environmental changes, limitation of gene flow between pools of individuals or putative selective pressure at specific markers, were previously documented for Antarctic notothenioid fish species. However, so far no studies were performed for the Gaudy notothen Lepidonotothen nudifrons. Starting from a species-specific spleen transcriptome library, we aimed at isolating polymorphic microsatellites (Type I; i.e. derived from coding sequences) suitable to quantify the genetic variability in this species, and additionally to assess the population genetic structure and demography in nototheniids.