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Characterization of 35 new microsatellite markers for the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and cross-species amplification in eight other shark species

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Abstract

Background

Shark species are overfished at a global scale, as they are poached for the finning industry or are caught as bycatch. Efficient conservation measures require fine-scale spatial and temporal studies to characterize shark habitat use, infer migratory habits, analyze relatedness, and detect population genetic differentiation. Gathering these types of data is costly and time-consuming, especially when it requires collection of shark tissue samples.

Methods and results

Genetic tools, such as microsatellite markers, are the most economical sampling method for collecting genetic data, as they enable the estimation of genetic diversity, population structure and parentage relationships and are thus an efficient way to inform conservation strategies. Here, a set of 45 microsatellite loci was tested on three blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) populations from three Polynesian islands: Moorea, Morane and Tenararo. The set was composed of 10 previously published microsatellite markers and 35 microsatellite markers that were developed specifically for C. melanopterus as part of the present study. The 35 novel and 10 existing loci were cross-amplified on eight additional shark species (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, C. longimanus, C. sorrah, Galeocerdo cuvier, Negaprion acutidens, Prionacea glauca, Rhincodon typus and Sphyrna lewini). These species had an average of 69% of successful amplification, considered if at least 50% of the individual samples being successfully amplified per species and per locus.

Conclusions

This novel microsatellite marker set will help address numerous knowledge gaps that remain, concerning genetic stock identification, shark behavior and reproduction via parentage analysis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the French NGO Ailerons for providing fin clips of adult Prionacea glauca collected in the Mediterranean Sea, B. Holmes (University of Queensland) for providing us with Galeocerdo cuvier fin clips collected on the Great Barrier reef off the Australian coast, M. Meekan (Australian Institute of Marine Science) for providing Rhincodon typus samples collected on the Ningaloo reef off the west coast of Australia, and J. Ovenden (Southern Fisheries Center, Australia) for providing Carcharhinus sorrah samples collected on the Great Barrier reef. The Sphyrna lewini samples were collected by J. B. Galves in Madagascar near Nosy Be Island.

Funding

Funding was provided by École Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PSL Research University, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, 58 Avenue Paul Alduy, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France

    Kim B. Eustache, Émilie Boissin, Céline Tardy & Serge Planes

  2. Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Kim B. Eustache

  3. Laboratoire d’Excellence “CORAIL”, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia

    Émilie Boissin, Céline Tardy & Serge Planes

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  1. Kim B. Eustache
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  4. Serge Planes
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Correspondence to Kim B. Eustache.

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Sampling of blacktip reef sharks was conducted by the Center for Island Research and Environmental Observatory (CRIOBE) under the permit N°9524 issued by the Ministère de la Promotion des Langues, de la Culture, de la Communication et de l’Environnement of the French Polynesian government in October 2015.

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Eustache, K.B., Boissin, É., Tardy, C. et al. Characterization of 35 new microsatellite markers for the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and cross-species amplification in eight other shark species. Mol Biol Rep 50, 3205–3215 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-08209-z

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