Characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of prickly redfish Thelenota ananas (Jaeger, 1833)

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of prickly redfish Thelenota ananas (Jaeger, 1833) was determined and characterized from the South China Sea using next-generation sequencing. Our results showed that the length of the whole mitogenome in prickly redfish was 15,858 bp and the mitogenome was consist of 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and one control region. Furthermore, the nucleotide composition was significantly biased (composition of A, G, T, and C was 28.20%, 22.64%, 33.53%, and 15.63%, respectively) with AT contents of 61.73%. All the PCGs shared a standard initiation codon ATG or GTG. CYTB and ND6 genes terminated with an incomplete stop codon T, while others ended with TAA or TAG. Our phylogenetic analysis showed that Thelenota ananas was clustered with the species of genus Stichopus, and formed sister branches with species of other genera within the family Stichopodidae clade.