Pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, genome reveals more camouflage genes

Sepia pharaonis, the pharaoh cuttlefish, is a commercially valuable cuttlefish species across the southeast coast of China and an important marine resource for the world fisheries. Research efforts to study the species biology, genetics and reproduction have been hampered by the absence of a high-quality reference genome. To address this need, we produced a hybrid reference genome of S. pharaonis using a long-read platform to assemble the genome and short-read, high quality technology to correct for sequencing errors. The genome was assembled into 8,079 scaffolds with a total length of 4.85 Gb and a scaffold N50 of 1.90 Mb. Annotation of the S. pharaonis genome assembly identified a total of 53,588 genes, including 13 copies of the reflectin gene, that enable cuttlefish to control their body colouration. This new reference genome for S. pharaonis provides an essential resource for future studies into the biology, domestication and selective breeding of the species.