title: Isolation and characteristics of 10 microsatellite markers from the endangered coconut crab (Birgus latro).
abstract: The coconut crab (Birgus latro), an endangered marine-dispersed crustacean, is facing severe and probably accelerating population extinction worldwide, but biological information on its conservation remains deficient. In order to reveal the genetic structure of B. latro, 10 microsatellite loci were developed. A high degree of polymorphism was observed with a mean number of alleles per locus of 16.9. The mean expected heterozygosities were also high, ranging from 0.742 to 0.965. The observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.210 to 0.925. Departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed at five loci after the Bonferroni correction. These hypervariable markers will be utilized to study the genetic diversity and conservation of B. latro throughout its distribution range in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chai-Hsia
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: See-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tee
authors.forename: Pei-Ciao
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jay Ming-Che
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Freire
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McGowan
authors.forename: Jiddawi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Narriman
authors.forename: Mohammed Suleiman
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mohammed
authors.forename: Hwey-Lian
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Chang-Po
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.forename: Chaolun Allen
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Chen