Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of the spottedtail morwong (Cheilodactylus zonatus)

The spottedtail morwong (Cheilodactylus zonatus), belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae and the genus Cheilodactylus, is an important economic fish known for its delicate flesh and rich nutritional value. It mainly feeds on crustaceans and mollusks and is widely distributed in the western Pacific Ocean. However, the lack of effective reference genomes has seriously hindered further research on its biology and genomic breeding. Here, we present a high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of C. zonatus using PacBio sequencing and Hi-C technologies. The assembled genome has a total length of 612.58 Mb with a contig N50 of 25.86 Mb. Approximately 97.8% of the assembly length was anchored to 24 pseudochromosomes. A total of 26,083 protein-coding genes were predicted, among which 23,393 genes (89.67%) were functionally annotated. The completeness of the assembly was estimated to be 98.2% by BUSCO assessment. As we know, this is the first reference genome in the family Cheilodactylidae, which will provide pivotal genomic resources for further biological and evolutionary studies of C. zonatus, and facilitate the development of genomic hybridization breeding in the artificial C. zonatus industry.