The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Indigenous Catfish Mystus gulio: Shotgun Assembly, Insight into Structural Characterization and Phylogenetic Relationships

Mystus gulio is a small indigenous euryhaline catfish under the family Bagridae, commonly known as long whiskers catfish. The present study was designed to sequence the whole mitochondrial genome of bagrid catfish (M. gulio) for the first time using the Illumina NGS platform in order to better comprehend the phylogenetic status. The full mitogenome size of M. gulio is 16,554 bp and has been deposited in GenBank with an accession number OQ984891. The M. gulio mitogenomic organization comprised 37 genes in total, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), and a D-loop regulatory region, which is comparable to that of typical vertebrate or other fish mitogenomes. All of the genes (28 genes) were encoded on the heavy (H)/positive strand, with the exception of eight tRNA genes and ND6. The entire base composition comprised A 31.88%, T 26.91%, G 15.05%, and C 26.16%, respectively, with a slightly higher A + T content. In phylogenetic analysis, M. gulio is clustered with other Mystus spp., bagrid catfish, and showed the closest genetic relationships. The complete mitogenome information generated in the present study is a source of genetic information for further molecular studies, including conservation strategies.