Development and validation of 98 SNP markers in Japanese anchovy, Engraulis japonicus

The Japanese anchovy, Engraulis japonicus, is an important economic fish that is distributed in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The effective assessment and management of the Engraulis japonicus fishery requires reliable information regarding its population's genetic structure. The recent development of double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-Seq) methods may contribute to the discovery of SNPs and the assessment of genetic structure. In our study, 98 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed using ddRAD-Seq. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.3333 to 0.8000 and 0.2778 to 0.5000, respectively. The polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.239198 to 0.375. All loci have been substantiated to follow the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These novel polymorphic SNP markers will play an important role in the genetic research of E.japonicus, which will be beneficial to the development and utilization of E.japonicus resources. This study aims to provide technical support for the research of genetic diversity of E. japonicus populations through the development of SNP markers.