Abstract
The spotted scat, Scatophagus argus (Perciformes, Scatophagidae), is a recreational and commercial fish in China. In this paper, the complete mitochondrial genome of S. argus was firstly determined. It is 16,783 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 control region. Except for the eight tRNA and ND6 genes, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand. The mitochondrial DNA information would be useful in species identification and natural resources conservation.