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

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the symmetrical brain coral <i>Pseudodiploria strigosa</i> (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 <i>nad5</i>. The studied mitogenome also includes two relatively long non-coding regions, one 910 bp long, located between <i>cox3</i> and <i>cox2</i> and a second 799 b long, located between <i>cox1</i> and trnM(cat). Mitochondrial synteny is identical to that previously reported in cofamilial corals. The mitogenome of <i>P. strigosa</i> is AT-rich with nucleotide use as follows: <i>A</i> = 24.84%, <i>C</i> = 13.21%, <i>G</i> = 20.41%, and <i>T</i> = 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 <i>P. strigosa</i> 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.