Microsatellite sequences were isolated from both non-enriched and enriched genomic libraries of California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus. Eight consistently amplifying, scorable and polymorphic loci were characterized for 79 individuals collected at Santa Cruz and San Clemente Islands, California, and tested for cross-species amplification in four closely related Panulirus spp., as well as four other species of the order Achelata. The number of alleles observed per locus ranged from three to 54 and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.57 to 0.98. Quality control testing shows that all loci were reliably scorable, independently segregating, inherited in Mendelian ratios, and had low to moderate (≤14.4%) frequencies of null alleles and high statistical power for detecting fine scale genetic structure.

The co-authors of this paper hereby state their intention to work together to launch the Genomic Observatories Network (GOs Network) for which this document will serve as its Founding Charter. We define a Genomic Observatory as an ecosystem and/or site subject to long-term scientific research, including (but not limited to) the sustained study of genomic biodiversity from single-celled microbes to multicellular organisms.An international group of 64 scientists first published the call for a global network of Genomic Observatories in January 2012. The vision for such a network was expanded in a subsequent paper and developed over a series of meetings in Bremen (Germany), Shenzhen (China), Moorea (French Polynesia), Oxford (UK), Pacific Grove (California, USA), Washington (DC, USA), and London (UK). While this community-building process continues, here we express our mutual intent to establish the GOs Network formally, and to describe our shared vision for its future. The views expressed here are ours alone as individual scientists, and do not necessarily represent those of the institutions with which we are affiliated.