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The piramutaba (Brachyplatystoma vaillantii) is one of the largest and most important migratory catfishes of the Amazon Basin. Due to its historical commercial importance, this species is now considered overfished. Fifteen polymorphic microsatellite markers were characterized in order to be used as tools to address aspects of the biology and conservation of this species. The number of alleles varied from 4 to 26 per locus, with an average of 11.33 alleles per locus, in 36-48 individuals tested. The observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.30176 to 0.95281, and from 0.25532 to 0.97778, respectively. All the microsatellites were found to be in HardyWeinberg equilibrium, and no linkage disequilibrium was observed. The transferability of these markers was tested in others Brachyplatystoma with seven to 12 loci being polymorphic per species. The results indicate that these markers are adequate for genetic studies applied to the management and conservation of the piramutaba, and others Brachyplatystoma species.

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