Complete mitochondrial genome of the furry lobster Palinurellus wieneckii (De Man, 1881) (Decapoda, Achelata, Palinuridae)

Abstract

Complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) for the rare lobster genus Palinurellus (species P. wieneckii) is reported for the first time. The genus Palinurellus is peculiar looking and was previously considered to belong to a distinct family Synaxidae. However, recent molecular phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of various genes showed that Synaxidae is an invalid family and Palinurellus should be placed inside Palinuridae. The complete mitogenome of P. wieneckii is compared to the genetic structures with six other Achelata species with mitogenome sequence reported. The gene order of P. wieneckii is identical to the other Achelata lobsters, but with lower A + T content (63.6% versus 64.5–67.5%). Sequence nucleotide dissimilarity of P. wieneckii is considerably higher (37.7–40.3%) than amongst the five Palinuridae s.s. species (17.1–32.9%), and approximate to the range between Palinuridae s.s. and Scyllaridae (39.1–40.4%).