Next generation sequencing yields complete mitogenomes of Leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda) and Blue-spotted stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) (Chondrichthyes: Dasyatidae)

Abstract : The Leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda) and Blue-spotted stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) are distributed in the Indian and West Pacific Ocean and considered as species complexes based on morphological and molecular evidence. In this study, we used the next-generation sequencing method to decipher the two complete mitogenomes of H. leoparda and N. kuhlii. The assembled mitogenomes had a length of 17,690 bp in H. leoparda and 17,974 bp in N. kuhlii, and showed 78% identity to each other. Both mitogenomes had the typical vertebrate arrangement, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs genes and the non-coding control region. The control region, which was 1931-bp long in H. leoparda and 2243-bp long in N. kuhlii was located between the tRNA-Pro and tRNA-Phe loci. The overall GC content was 40.3% in H. leoparda and 39.8% in N. kuhlii. The complete mitogenome sequences of H. leoparda and N. kuhlii provide important molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of these two stingray species complexes.