Development and characterization of 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the faucet snail, Bithynia tentaculata
(Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Bithyniidae)

Justin P. Henningsen^1,2, Stacey L. Lance², Kenneth L. Jones³, Cris Hagen²,
Joshua Laurila⁴, Rebecca A. Cole⁵, and Kathryn E. Perez⁴

¹Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
²Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC 29802, USA
³Georgia Genomics Facility, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
⁴Biology Department, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI 54601, USA
⁵United States Geological Survey, BRD National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI 53711, USA

Abstract: Bithynia tentaculata (Linnaeus, 1758), a snail native to Europe, was introduced into the US Great Lakes in the 1870’s and has spread to rivers throughout the Northeastern US and Upper Mississippi River (UMR). Trematode parasites, for which B. tentaculata is a host, have also been introduced and are causing widespread waterfowl mortality in the UMR. Waterfowl mortality is caused by ingestion of trematode-infected B. tentaculata or insects infected with parasites released from the snails. We isolated and characterized 17 microsatellite loci from the invasive faucet snail, B. tentaculata (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Bithyniidae). Loci were screened in 24 individuals of B. tentaculata. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 6, observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.050 to 0.783, and the probability of identity values ranged from 0.10 to 0.91. These new loci provide tools for examining the origin and spread of invasive populations in the US and management activities to prevent waterfowl mortality.