Complete mitochondrial genome of the rock grouperEpinephelus fasciatomaculosus(Pisces: Perciformes)

In this study, the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of the rock grouper Epinephelus fasciatomaculosus was determined. The circular mtDNA molecule was 16,682 bp in size and the overall nucleotide composition of the H-strand was 28.64% A, 27.21% T, 16.28% G and 27.87% C, with an A + T bias. The complete mitogenome encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and two major non-coding regions, with the gene order and content identical to other vertebrate mitogenomes. E. fasciatomaculosus is similar to the sympatric Epinephelus akaara in external morphology. Similarity of the complete mitogenomes between E. fasciatomaculosus and E. akaara was 91.45%, and the motif of the control region in E. fasciatomaculosus differed in the number of tandem repeat elements from that in E. akaara, which revealed the significant identity of the two species at molecular levels.