Supporting data for "Chromosome-level genome assemblies of <i>C. argus</i> and <i>C. maculata</i> and comparative analysis of their temperature adaptability"

<i>Channa argus</i> and <i>Channa maculata</i> are the main cultured species of the family Channidae. The relationship between them is close enough that they can mate, however their temperature adaptability is quite different. <br>In this study, we sequenced and assembled the whole genomes of <i>C. argus</i> and <i>C. maculata</i> for the first time and obtained chromosome-level genome assemblies of 630.39 and 618.82 Mb, respectively. Contig N50 was 13.20 and 21.73 Mb, scaffold N50 was 27.66 and 28.37 Mb, with 28,054 and 24,115 coding genes annotated for <i>C. argus</i> and <i>C. maculata</i>, respectively. <i>C. argus</i> and <i>C. maculata</i> have 24 and 21 chromosomes, respectively. Three pairs of chromosomes in <i>C. argus</i> correspond to three chromosomes in <i>C. maculata</i>, suggesting three chromosomal fusion events in <i>C. maculata</i>. Comparative analysis of their gene families showed that some immune-related genes were unique or expandable to <i>C. maculata</i>, such as genes related to herpes simplex infection. The transcriptome differences related to temperature adaptation revealed that the brain and liver of <i>C. argus</i> rapidly produced more DEGs than <i>C. maculata</i>. The genes in the FoxO signalling pathway were significantly enriched in <i>C. argus</i> during the cooling process (P &lt; 0.05), and the expression of three transcription factor genes in this pathway was significantly different between <i>C. argus</i> and <i>C. maculata</i> (P&lt; 0.01). <br><i>C. maculata</i> may have higher resistance to certain diseases, while <i>C. argus</i> has a faster and stronger response to low-temperature stress, and thus has better adaptability to a low-temperature environment. This study provides a high-quality genome research platform for follow-up studies of Channidae, and provides important clues for the differences in the low-temperature adaptation of fish.