The complete mitochondrial genome of the Critically Endangered Saba Green Iguana, Iguana iguana (Squamata: Iguanidae)

Abstract

The populations of native iguanas in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles are threatened by the wide occurrence and spread of non-native iguanas. Until recently, competitive hybridization was not believed to threaten the Saba Green Iguana, a subpopulation of Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758) from the island of Saba. However, the arrival of non-native iguanas has put the native population at risk, leading to a change in the conservation status of the Saba Green Iguana to Critically Endangered, according to guidelines from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Here, we generated the complete mitogenome of the Saba Green Iguana using Oxford Nanopore long-read technology. The mitogenome is 16,626 bp long and has 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a control region (1194 bp). Noteworthy, this is only the second published mitogenome for the Iguana iguana species complex, despite the known high intraspecific genetic variation.

Keywords:

• Caribbean
• mitogenome
• next generation sequencing
• Oxford Nanopore Technology
• phylogeny

Acknowledgments

We thank the Saba Conservation Foundation for on-island logistical support throughout our project.

Author contributions

M.P.B. collected the sample; M.P.B., A.O.D. and D.R.V. designed the study; A.R.L. and A.C.C. analyzed the data; M.P.B and D.R.V. wrote the paper. All authors read, edited and approved the final manuscript.

Ethical approval

Approval for the fieldwork was provided by the Executive Council of Saba under research permit (663/2021).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). The authors comply with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) policies research involving species at risk of extinction, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Data availability statement

The genome sequence data that support the findings of this study are openly available in GenBank of NCBI at [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] under the accession no. OQ076335. The associated **BioProject**, **SRA**, and **Bio-Sample** numbers are PRJNA932829, SRX19315290, and SAMN33213536 respectively. The blood sample is stored in the lab of D. R. Vieites at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain; code SAB01; contact corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

Sample collection was possible during fieldwork that was financially supported by the Ministry of Agriculture Nature and Food Quality (LNV) as part of their "BO" policy support research program with Wageningen University and Research under the project BO-43-117-006 and project number 4318100346-1.