Isolation and characterisation of microsatellite loci in the Australian freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus)

The Australian freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) has suffered a decline in abundance and distribution, and stocking of wild populations with hatcherybred fish has been suggested to assist with population recovery. Here we describe the isolation and characterisation of eight microsatellite markers that may be used to assess population structure of T. tandanus in the wild to inform future stocking programs of any major genetic boundaries between populations. We tested the variability of the loci in 28-29 individuals from three populations of T. tandanus, as well in 24 individuals from a population representing an undescribed species. Expected heterozygosity for these loci ranged from 0.034 to 0.920 across the four populations. All loci successfully amplified in the three T. tandanus populations, while in the undescribed species one locus failed to amplify and three loci were monomorphic.