Parental contribution in a cultivated stock for the spotted rose snapper lutjanus guttatus (Steindachner, 1869) estimated by newly developed microsatellite markers

The spotted rose snapper Lutjanus guttatus is a fishery relevant species from the eastern Pacific Ocean, with aquaculture potential. Species-specific genetic markers are needed for the genetic characterization of wild and cultivated populations to help management strategies. Eighteen hypervariable microsatellites were developed by Next Generation Sequencing and characterized in a wild population sample. Genetic diversity was high (observed heterozygosity = 0.88 ± 0.050; the number of alleles per locus = 13.4 ± 1.3) and few loci departed from the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, leaving 14 loci potentially suitable for population genetic studies. A reduced panel of five loci was tested in a cultivated stock to determine the parentage of progeny (embryonated eggs; n = 413), to estimate the temporal contribution of each parental broodstock. The above resulted in the successful assignment of 95.6% of the progeny to its parental couple, representing 17 out of the 24 possible families. Two of the four females produced most of those progeny (97.3%). These females, which reproduced throughout the season, did not spawn on consecutive days. The contribution of males was evenly distributed during the season and occurred on successive days. Some microsatellites can be used in other lutjanids (L. peru, L. argentiventris, and Hoplopagrus guentherii).