Abstract:The genetic diversity of cultured Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus from three countries (China, Japan and Korea) was studied by using five microsatellite markers. The results showed that the average number of alleles per population ranged between 4.8-5.6, and the mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.391 7-0.564 3, while the mean expected heterozygosity (HE) was 0.598 1-0.626 4.Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) test revealed several loci in some populations deviated significantly from HWE balance. Genetic distance analysis showed that the smallest distance was between Chinese and Japanese populations and the largest distance was between Korean and Japanese populations. The Fst values between populations indicated that there was significant genetic differentiation among the three cultured populations.
