Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Eelpout Lycodes tanakae (Perciformes: Zoarcidae) from the Tatar Strait, Sea of Japan

We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) for the eelpout Lycodes tanakae from the north western Sea of Japan. The mitogenome sequence is 16 597 bp in length, and the gene arrangement, composition, and size are similar to the other eelpout mitogenomes published previously. The genetic distance between the GenBank mitogenome of L. tanakae (KX148472) and the mitogenome obtained in the present study is low, 0.32 ± 0.04%, despite relatively long distance between the sampling localities (~1500 km), the species’ sedentary lifestyle, and absence of long-lived pelagic larval stages. We also found a low level of sequence divergence (around 2.0% or less) between the mitogenome of L. tanakae and the GenBank mitogenomes of the polar eelpout L. polaris, the estuarine eelpout L. turneri, and the Arctic eelpout L. reticulatus, which may likely be due to the recent divergence of the species and/or effective pre-zygotic reproductive isolation mechanisms limiting the gene flow without significant genetic divergence.