Data from: Chromosome-level genome assembly of Paralithodes platypus provides insights into evolution and adaptation of king crabs

The blue king crab, Paralithodes platypus, which belongs to the Lithodidae
family, is a commercially and ecologically important species. However, a
high-quality reference genome for the king crab has not yet been reported.
Here, we assembled the first chromosome-level blue king crab genome, which
contains 104 chromosomes and an N50 length of 51.15 Mb. Furthermore, we
determined that the large genome size can be attributed to the insertion
of long interspersed nuclear elements and long tandem repeats. Genome
assembly assessment showed that 96.54% of the assembled transcripts could
be aligned to the assembled genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed the blue
king crab to have a close relationship with the Eubrachyura crabs, from
which it diverged 272.5 million years ago. Population history analyses
indicated that the effective population of the blue king crab declined
sharply and then gradually increased from the Cretaceous and Neogene
periods, respectively. Furthermore, gene families related to developmental
pathways, steroid and thyroid hormone synthesis, and inflammatory
regulation, were expanded in the genome, suggesting that these genes
contributed substantially to the environmental adaptation and unique body
plan evolution of the blue king crab. The high-quality reference genome
reported here provides a solid molecular basis for further study of the
blue king crab’s development and environmental adaptation.