The complete mitochondrial genome of the subarctic red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus (Decapoda, Anomura)

Abstract

We determined the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence of the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus (Decapoda, Anomura). P. camtschaticus is one of the largest arthropods and the most expensive commercially available gourmet seafood. The genome sequence of P. camtschaticus is 16,720 bp in size and its gene content, gene order, and transcriptional polarity are almost identical to those of the hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus, which is thought to be derived from a common ancestor. However, P. camtschaticus mtDNA showed tRNA translocation in two blocks compared to that of P. longicarpus. Prior to this study, complete mt genomes of only two species of Anomura have been reported. Thus, our genomic data will provide additional information for constructing the decapod phylogeny.

Keywords::

• Paralithodes camtschaticus
• mitochondrial genome
• Anomura
• Decapoda
• subarctic red king crab

Declaration of interest: This work was supported by the Basic Research Program of the Korea Polar Research Institute (PE12030) for S. Kim and H.-G. Choi and the Basic Science Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2012R1A1A2006835) for G.-S. Min. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.