Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of potato grouper (Epinephelus tukula)

Potato grouper (Epinephelus tukula) is an economically important aquaculture species exhibiting rapid growth performance. Chromosome-level genome of potato grouper has been reported, however, the genome has a large proportion of scaffolds that were not anchored onto chromosomes. Here, we assembled an improved high-quality chromosome-level genome of potato grouper using PacBio HiFi sequencing and Hi-C technology in the present study. The total genome assembly was 1.108 Gb with a contig N50 of 41.91 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 46.58 Mb. Approximately 99.53% of the assembly was anchored onto 24 chromosomes. The completeness of the assembly was estimated to be 98.1% based on BUSCO. A total of 25,028 protein-coding genes were predicted, 98.77% (24,719) of which were functionally annotated. This high-quality reference genome of the potato grouper provides a valuable resource for genetic breeding, population genomics, and exploration of functional genes for important traits.