SkateBase, an elasmobranch genome project and collection of molecular resources for chondrichthyan fishes

Chondrichthyan fishes are a diverse class of gnathostomes that provide a valuable perspective on fundamental characteristics shared by all jawed and limbed vertebrates. Studies of phylogeny, species diversity, population structure, conservation, and physiology are accelerated by genomic, transcriptomic and protein sequence data. These data are widely available for many sarcopterygii (coelacanth, lungfish and tetrapods) and actinoptergii (ray-finned fish including teleosts) taxa, but limited for chondrichthyan fishes. In this study, we summarize available data for chondrichthyes and describe resources for one of the largest projects to characterize one of these fish, Leucoraja erinacea, the little skate. SkateBase ( http://skatebase.org) serves as the skate genome project portal linking data, research tools, and teaching resources.