Complete mitochondrial genome of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris variabilis (Decapoda: Caridea: Alvinocarididae) from the North Fiji basin

Abstract

The family Alvinocarididae is the monophyletic taxon which lives restrictively at chemosynthesis-based environments in the deep-sea. Here, for the first time, we report the complete mitogenome of the alvinocaridid vent shrimp Rimicaris variabilis from the North Fiji Basin. The mitogenome was 15,909 bp in length, with 65.6% AT content. Its protein-coding gene organization was typical of other alvinocaridid shrimps. Based on the phylogenetic tree, R. variabilis was most closely related to Shinkaicaris leurokolos, rather than with other Rimicaris species. To resolve this incongruence between traditional morphological classification and molecular analyses, further mitogenomic analysis of undetermined alvinocaridid taxa is necessary.

Keywords

• rimicaris variabilis
• alvinocarididae
• hydrothermal vent shrimp
• mitochondrial genome
• north fiji basin