Rapid isolation of the first set of polymorphic microsatellite loci from the Australian gummy shark, Mustelus antarcticus and their utility across divergent shark taxa

The development of genetic markers for studies of population structure and genetic diversity can be applied to improving management and monitoring of commercially fished species. Here we report on the use of high-throughput (454) sequencing to develop a panel of 12 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers for the commercially harvested gummy shark, Mustelus antarcticus. This constitutes the first suite of microsatellites developed for the genus Mustelus, a group which features in commercial fisheries around the world. We demonstrate the successful amplification of these markers in other species of Mustelus and test their utility in species from an additional nine genera of shark.