Abstract
The sailfin sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus is a common demersal fish in the Sea of Japan and one of the important fishery resources in Japan and Korea. Despite the need for information on genetic population structure for resource management, population genetic studies in this species have been based on only RFLP and sequence analysis of a part of the mitochondrial DNA and classical allozyme analysis. These analyses have presented the roughly group structure of the species, but have not resolved enough to mention the fine scale genetic structure within each group. Here we screened microsatellite DNA markers suitable for fine scale population structure from previously reported papers based on fit of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the presence or absence of null allele, large allele dropouts, and linkage disequilibrium. Using the resulting 10 loci selected, population genetic analyses of two sample populations belonging to different genetic groups showed relatively high heterozygosity (He: 0.764 and 0.755) in both sample populations, and high degree of genetic differentiation between them (FST = 0.0709, RST = 0.1598) which was consistent with predictions from previous studies. Furthermore, Bayesian clustering revealed that group attributes can be correctly estimated at the individual level. These results suggest that the 10 loci selected have the potential to make a significant contribution in future population genetic studies of this species.
https://ror.org/01dq60k83 
