The complete mitochondrial genome of the Spinetail Devilray, Mobula japanica

Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome of a widely distributed pelagic ray, the Spinetail Devilray (Mobula japanica), consists of 18,880 bp with high A+T and low G content. Gene configuration and length is similar to other vertebrates and comprises 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs genes (12S and 16S rRNA), 22 tRNAs genes, and 1 major non-coding sequence, the control region. A remarkable feature in the mitochondrial genome of M. japanica is three tandemly repeated areas in the control region, together comprising a length of almost 1500 bp, making this to our knowledge the longest elasmobranch mitochondrial genome published so far.

Keywords::

• Elasmobranch
• tandemly repeated areas
• control region

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ernesto Altamirano and Robert J. Olsen of IATTC for the sample, and Tor Erik Jørgensen for laboratory assistance.

Declaration of interest: Marloes Poortvliet is supported by a PhD grant from the University of Groningen's TopMaster-Evolutionary Biology Program. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.