The first complete mitochondrial genomes of sawtail surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae: Prionurus)

William B Ludt; Luiz A Rocha; Prosanta Chakrabarty

doi:10.1080/23802359.2019.1699465

The first complete mitochondrial genomes of sawtail surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae: Prionurus)

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2019 Dec 12;5(1):212-213. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2019.1699465.

Authors

William B Ludt¹, Luiz A Rocha², Prosanta Chakrabarty³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ichthyology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Section of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA.
³ Ichthyology Section, Museum of Natural Science, Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.

Abstract

Surgeonfishes of the family Acanthuridae are primarily large-bodied herbivores that provide critical ecosystem services to coral reefs. Five out of the six genera that comprise the family have had mitochondrial genomes sequenced, with the exception of the genus Prionurus. Here, for the first time, we assemble and annotate the mitochondrial genomes of two sawtail surgeonfishes. The circular genomes of P. biafraensis and P. laticlavius are 16,552 bp and 16,531 bp in length, respectively, and contain 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and a control region. Gene arrangement and codon usage were similar to reported mitochondrial genomes of other surgeonfish genera, and a phylogenetic analysis of protein-coding genes recovers a topology for Acanthuridae that is consistent with nuclear analyses.

Keywords: Acanthuriformes; Mitochondrion; herbivore; phylogenetics; reef fish.

Grants and funding

Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation [NSF DEB 1701323 to WBL and DEB 1354149 to PC] and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.