Characterization of 21 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus travei from the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands

Twenty-one microsatellite locus were characterized for the collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus travei (Deharveng, 1981) of the sub-Antarctic Marion Island of South Africa. For the analyzed samples (67 individuals distributed in 19 populations), we observed an average of 7.2 alleles per locus, an observed and expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.104 to 0.750 and from 0.123 to 0.820, respectively. This high nuclear genetic diversity is in accordance with previous studies however based on mitochondrial data. Eventually, these microsatellite markers appear particularly useful to explore the influence of evolutionary and ecological processes, which shape the population structure of C. a. travei at different spatial scales across Marion Island and the sub-Antarctic domain.