Abstract

Acanthephyra pelagica is a widespread deep-sea decapod crustacean that is highly abundant and thus, of high ecological significance, within the Sable Gully marine protected area. Despite its importance no genetic analyses have previously been conducted on this species. Here we present a total of 26 novel species-specific microsatellites isolated and characterized in 132 individuals collected from one wild population within the Sable Gully. The number of alleles observed in polymorphic loci ranged from 6 to 18 with an average of 8.1. The observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.156 to 0.723 and from 0.156 to 0.913 respectively. These novel microsatellites are a contribution to future studies on A. pelagica and will have a positive impact on the future studies on biology and ecology of this deep-sea species.