The complete mitochondrial genome of the symmetrical brain coral Pseudodiploria strigosa (Dana, 1846) (Scleractinia: Vacatina: Faviidae)

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the symmetrical brain coral Pseudodiploria strigosa (Dana, 1846) is sequenced for the first time in this study. The newly assembled mitogenome is 16,906 bp long and encodes 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 2 tRNA genes (trnM[cat] and trnW[tca]), and 2 ribosomal genes (rrnL and rrnS). A group I intron bisected the PCG nad5. The studied mitogenome also includes two relatively long non-coding regions, one 910 bp long, located between cox3 and cox2 and a second 799 b long, located between cox1 and trnM(cat). Mitochondrial synteny is identical to that previously reported in cofamilial corals. The mitogenome of P. strigosa is AT-rich with nucleotide use as follows: A = 24.84%, C = 13.21%, G = 20.41%, and T = 41.54%. A maximum-likelihood phylomitogenomic analysis that relied on the phylogenetic signal provided by translated PCGs supported the monophyly of the family Faviidae to which P. strigosa belongs. This newly assembled mitochondrial genome will be employed as a reference in studies biomonitoring this and other imperiled corals in the Caribbean basin using environmental DNA.