Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of Hyporhamphus paucirastris (Beloniformes; Hemiramphidae)

Hyporhamphus paucirastris (Collette et al. 1986) is a fish found in warm coastal waters that is widely distributed in the basins of the South China Sea. The complete mitochondrial genome of H. paucirastris has been sequenced for the first time in this study. The genome was 16713 bp in length and included 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 1 D-Loop region. Expect for the CO1 uses GTG and ATP6 uses CTG as the starting codon, and the others are ATG. Furthermore, the overall base composition includes A (30.29%), C (23.09%), G (16.57%) and T (30.06%). The phylogenetic tree based on maximum likelihood method provides the internal relationship of order Beloniformes, based on the 13 PCGs encoded by heavy strand, the Maximum likelihood tree proves that H. paucirastris has the closest relationship with Hyporhamphus sajori. These results may provide molecular information for the species evolution and phylogenetic status of H. paucirastris in the order Beloniformes and genus Hyporhamphu.