Comparison of the genetic diversity at five microsatellite loci in wild and hatchery populations of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791)

Abstract

In this study, five microsatellite loci are compared in a Wellfleet hatchery line from the Aquaculture Research Corporation and in a population of a naturally recruiting restoration reef oysters from the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. It was found that the natural reef population contained substantially more genetic variation at these five microsatellite loci than the hatchery oysters, and that the two populations are genetically distinguishable by their alleles and diversity. These data suggest that the Wellfleet restoration reefs should continue to be protected as an important repository of genetic variation for the Wellfleet oyster.