Genetic data of Golden King Crab, Aleutian Islands, 1994-2017

Data in this study is based on analyses of 22 samples from the Aleutian Archipelago and southeastern Alaska collected from 1994 to 2017. Microsatellite and mitochondrial (mt) DNA data samples were collected during commercial pot harvests, research cruises, and at harvest landing locations to support a study of genetic variability among populations. Archived samples (1994-1996) consisted of muscle tissue and later samples (2011-2017) consisted of hemolymph. We used molecular markers to resolve the genetic stock structure of Golden King Crab (GKC), which were used to help define population production units across Gulf of Alaska. Data in the file: 1526-GKC-Sample locations.csv lists the names of sample locations, dates of collection and latitude-longitude coordinates. Small samples were pooled by area to provide statistical power to detect microsatellite allele-frequency and mtDNA-haplotype frequency differences on spatial scales of about 100 kilometers. The data file: 1526-GKC-microsatellite genotypes.txt contains genotypes for 14 microsatellite loci in GENEPOP format. These data are summarized in two files: 1) 1626-GCK-microsatellite allelic counts by sample.csv: contains allelic counts for the 14 microsatellite loci in the 22 samples, 2) 1526-GKC-microsatellite number of alleles.csv: contains the number of alleles by sample and locus. Mitochondrial DNA Sanger sequences are listed in two files; 1) 1526-GKC-mtDNA-COI-sequences.fas which contains sequences for mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I (N = 734) in standard Fasta format and 2) 1526-GKC-mtDNA-ND5-sequences.fas contains sequences for mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (N = 717) also in standard Fasta format. These data were examined with standard genetic statistics to test for genetic differences between populations and to describe the distribution of gene diversity among populations.