PERMANENT GENETIC RESOURCES: PCR primers for 100 microsatellites in red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

One hundred nuclear‐encoded microsatellites from a genomic library of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) were isolated and characterized. Eight microsatellites had tetranucleotide motifs; 92 had dinucleotide motifs. The average number of alleles per microsatellite (sample of 22–24 fish) was 17.7 (range = 2–30); gene diversity averaged 0.796 (range = 0.227–1.000). Following Bonferroni correction, genotype frequencies at 90 microsatellites did not deviate significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectations. Occurrence of null alleles was inferred at 15 microsatellites; alleles differing by only a single base were observed at 11 microsatellites. The microsatellites developed should prove useful for population‐genetic studies of ‘wild’ red drum and in construction of a genetic map.