Broad taxonomic applicability of microsatellites developed for the highly polymorphic neotropical cichlid, Amphilophus citrinellum

Neotropical cichlids are some of the most important food fishes of Central America. In addition to its important economic role as part of the freshwater fishery, the Midas cichlid, Amphilophus citrinellum, exhibits a high level of intraspecific variation in both coloration and pharyngeal jaw morphology, which has made it a model species for the study of incipient, possibly, sympatric speciation. While behavioural and ecological studies of A. citrinellum have been numerous and thorough, investigations of the genetic variation of this species are almost completely missing. We have previously found exceedingly low levels of variation in the mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b gene which suggests a recent origin of the species (Meyer et al. unpublished data).