Microsatellite loci for dreissenid mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) and relatives: markers for assessing exotic and native populations

We developed and tested 14 new polymorphic microsatellite loci for dreissenid mussels, including the two species that have invaded many freshwater habitats in Eurasia and North America, where they cause serious industrial fouling damage and ecological alterations. These new loci will aid our understanding of their genetic patterns in invasive populations as well as throughout their native Ponto-Caspian distributions. Eight new loci for the zebra mussel
Dreissena polymorpha
and six for the quagga mussel
D. rostriformis bugensis
were compared with new results from six previously published loci to generate a robust molecular toolkit for dreissenid mussels and their relatives. Taxa tested include
D. polymorpha
,
D. r. bugensis
,
D. r. grimmi
,
D. stankovici
, the “living fossil”
Congeria kusceri
, and the dark false mussel
Mytilopsis leucophaeata
(the latter also is invasive). Overall, most of the 24 zebra musse...