Discovery of Novel NGS-mined Microsatellite Markers and an Exploratory Analysis of Genetic Differentiation Between Two Western Atlantic Populations of Cardisoma Guanhumi Latreille, 1825 (decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinidae)

The blue land crab Cardisoma guanhumiLatreille, 1825 is a highly valued food resource widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of the west Atlantic region. Current overharvesting, however, has played a significant role in stock decline. We describe the development of 12 new microsatellite markers, by next-generation sequencing, for evaluating genetic diversity and population structure across the geographical range of the species. A glimpse into the genetic variation in the Caribbean is also provided. The highly informative nature of these markers was also given by the mean estimate values for allelic richness (A(R)), gene diversity, and polymorphic information content (PIC); 3.8, 0.593, 0.518 in Florida and 2.9, 0.450, 0.385 in Puerto Rico. A preliminary genetic diversity analysis revealed high population differentiation between both locations (F-ST = 0.310 and D-EST = 0.526). PCoA and Bayesian clustering provisionally detected two genetically distinct groups based on the two predefined populations from the Caribbean.