Isolation and description of eight polymorphic microsatellite loci for the winged-kelp Alaria nana

Here I report on the isolation of eight microsatellites from the winged-kelp, Alaria nana, using an enrichment protocol. Using 55 individuals from Tatoosh, WA and complete data at all loci, loci displayed 6-11 alleles with observed and expected heterozygosities of 0.396-0.754, and 0.769-0.872 respectively. Using an isolated, randomly breeding subset, six of the eight loci were determined to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These markers will be useful in assessing population structure in the intertidal and inferring patterns of dispersal.