Microsatellite development and survey of genetic variation in skipjack tuna <i>Katsuwonus pelamis</i>

Abstract

A survey of five newly developed microsatellite DNA markers in skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis revealed high levels of polymorphism in two samples off the west coast of India (Minicoy Island and Kochi coast) and one sample off the Japan coast. Although significant differentiation ( P &lt; 0·01) in the number of specific alleles was observed between Minicoy and Kochi samples, the F‐statistics values among the samples were very low (average = 0·0014) and not significant ( P = 0·284).