Complete mitochondrial genome of the blind vent crab Gandalfus puia (Crustacea: Bythograeidae) from Tonga Arc

Abstract

The brachyuran crab Gandalfus puia is endemic species which is only known from hydrothermal vent fields in Tonga-Kermadec Arc. In the present study, we determined the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of G. puia from Tonga Arc. The mitogenome was 15,548bp in length and showed the typical gene arrangement of brachyuran. Its protein coding genes were very similar to other bythograeid species in respect to length, AT content, and start and stop codons. Additionally, we compared the mitogenomes of Austinograea and Gandalfus. The inter-specific nucleotide divergence was 13.4 % in Gandalfus and 13.7 &#8211 14.0 % in Austinograea. The nucleotide divergence between Gandalfus and Austinograea showed 16.3 &#8211 19.7 %. These results are useful for understanding the phylogenetic relationships and evolution of bythograeid crabs.