Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for Cichla monoculus (Agassiz, 1831), an important freshwater fish in the Amazon

Cichla monoculus is an endemic species from Amazon basin and one of the main predators in the Amazon Rivers. It is widely commercialized as food, becoming one of the main items in Amazonian fisheries. Despite its economic importance, there are few genetic population studies in its natural environment. The present contribution describes 12 microsatellite loci used to analyze 27 individuals of C. monoculus. The number of alleles for each locus ranged from 2 to 13. The observed (H(O)) and expected (H(E)) heterozygosity values ranged from 0.45 to 0.94 and 0.45 to 0.90, respectively. Out of 12 polymorphic loci, nine did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. A cross-amplification test with five different species suggests potential transferability of all analyzed loci.