Genetic structure of golden grey mullet Chelon auratus investigated in the Fereydoon-Kenar and Ramsar coasts (south Caspian Sea, Iran), using 6 microsatellite markers designed for gray mullet (Mugil cephalus) and hand mullet (Liza haematocheila). A total of 60 samples of adult C. auratus were collected from these regions. All primer sets as polymorphic loci were used to analyze genetic variation. Analyses revealed that average of alleles (Na) per locus was 6.2 (range 3 to 9 alleles). All sampled regions contained private alleles. The average estimates of inbreeding coefficient (Fis) values of 6 microsatellites were positive. The average observed and expected heterozygosity was 0.394 and 0.743, respectively. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were in all cases (P<0.001). F-statistics (Fst) and gene flow (Nm) estimates in allele frequencies were 0.078 and 2.9, respectively. Fst estimates in AMOVA indicated significant genetic differentiation among regions (P<0.01). Genetic distance was 0.679 indicating that the genetic difference among the studied populations is pronounced. The data generated in this study provides genetic variation and differentiation in populations of C. auratus in the southern Caspian Sea.
