The complete mitochondrial genome of the sea urchin, Echinometra sp. EZ

Abstract

The complete mitogenome of Echinometra sp. EZ has been described and fully annotated in this study. Phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) from six Echinometra species confirms that our sample is E. sp. EZ. The mitogenome is 15,698 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, and a non-coding region with an identical organization to other Echinoidea. The E. sp. EZ mitogenome shared ∼99.1% identity to the published Echinometra mathaei mitogenome, differing by 147 SNPs. The E. sp. EZ mitogenome will serve as a resource that can be applied to disentangling the Echinometra species complex and to future population genetic studies of this ecologically important sea urchin species.

Keywords

• echinometra
• species complex
• persian/arabian gulf
• sea urchin
• mitochondrial genome