Echinotriton chinhaiensis is a critically endangered salamander and its distribution is restricted to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province of China. In this study, we developed and characterized fifteen polymorphic microsatellite loci for E. ehinhaiensis from dinucleotide- and tetranucleotide- enriched library. The number of alleles ranges from 4 to 12 with an average of 7.27 alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities values were from 0.250 to 0.844 and 0.511 to 0.872 with an average value of 0.596 and 0.722; respectively. The polymorphic microsatellite loci described in this paper are useful in the further study on genetic diversity and gene flow, which would be helpful to formulate effective conservation strategies for the E. chinhaiensis.
Knowledge of life history is important for understanding possible connections to population declines. Here, we investigated the female age structure and fecundity of Echinotriton chinhaiensis, one of the most endangered salamanders in the world, using skeletochronology based on specimens collected in 2008 and 2009 from a population in Ruiyansi, northeast of Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. The results showed that most female salamanders were between 5 and 6 years of age, with the minimal reproductive age, predicted to be 3 years, and the clutch size correlated to the body size. We argue that both delayed attainment of sexual maturity and low fecundity make this species more vulnerable to extinction.
