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.
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.