Development of microsatellite loci and population genetics in the bumblebee catfish species Pseudopimelodus atricaudus and Pseudopimelodus magnus (Siluriformes: Pseudopimelodidae)

ABSTRACT

The Neotropical freshwater catfish Pseudopimelodus atricaudus and Pseudopimelodus magnus are two recently discovered species endemic to the Colombian Magdalena-Cauca River basin. In this study, a set of 13 microsatellite loci were developed by using next generation sequence technology to assess the genetic diversity and population structure in P. atricaudus and test for cross-species amplification in P. magnus. Both species exhibited high genetic diversity (P. atricaudus: Na: 9.000 - 9.769 alleles/locus, Ho: 0.760 - 0.804, H_E: 0.804 - 0.840; P. magnus: Na: 12.8 - 5.4 alleles/locus, Ho: 0.638 - 0.683, H_E: 0.747 - 0.755) compared to the mean levels of genetic diversity reported for Neotropical Siluriformes, and lack of genetic differentiation among sampling sites within the Cauca River (P. atricaudus: F’_ST=0.013 - 0.017, P > 0.05, D’_est= -0.004 - 0.023, P > 0.05; P. magnus: F’_ST= 0.031, P= 0.055; D’_est= 0.045, P= 0.058). This work is the first insight on the diversity and the population genetics of species of the family Pseudopimelodidae and provides a framework to further population genetic and conservation analyses needed in this poorly studied family at the microevolutionary level.

Keywords:
Colombia; Freshwater fish; Gene flow; Genetic diversity; Magdalena-Cauca basin