Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of the camouflage grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

The camouflage grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion) is an economically carnivorous fish widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. However, no valid reference genome of E. polyphekadion severely hinders further research on biology and genomic breeding programs. Here, we presented a high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of E. polyphekadion using PacBio sequencing and Hi-C technologies. The chromosome-level genome has a total length of 1.1 Gb with a contig N50 of 40.8 Mb. Approximately 99.4% of the assembly lengths were anchored to 24 pseudochromosomes. In total, 25,165 protein-coding genes were predicted, among which 24,634 genes (97.9%) were functionally annotated. The completeness of the assembly was estimated to be 99.1% using BUSCO. In summary, the first reference genome of E. polyphekadion in this study will not only provide pivotal genetic resources for further biological and evolutionary studies of groupers, but also benefit the development of genomic hybridization breeding in the artificial grouper industry.