The chromosome-level genome of the Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens)
Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens, Lutjanidae) inhabits deep waters (20-300 m) from North America to Brazil and supports significant commercial and recreational fisheries. Despite its economic importance, the understanding of its basic biology remains limited. Classified as Vulnerable on the Red List due to overfishing, populations have declined by over 30% in recent generations. We assembled and annotated the first chromosome-scale genome of this species by combining PacBio long reads, Illumina short reads, and Hi-C data. The resulting assembly is 987.5 Mbp, with a scaffold N50 size of 41.3 Mbp, and includes 135 contigs clustered and ordered onto 24 chromosomes with 34,496 predicted genes. The high-quality assembly and annotation contained about 98% complete and single-copy BUSCO genes. It is the most complete, chromosome-level genome assembly of an Atlantic snapper. The genome assembly and supporting data are valuable tools for ecological and comparative genomics studies of snappers and other valuable commercial species within the family.
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Funding
This work was supported by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Competitive Research Program, and Office of Ocean Exploration and Research under award NA18NOS4780166 to Lehigh University. This work was also supported by a Lehigh University CAS Dean's Opportunity Grant. Portions of the laboratory and data analysis were conducted with the support of the Laboratories of Analytical Biology (https://ror.org/05b8c0r92) of the National Museum of Natural History.
