Chromosome-level genome assembly of the Japanese sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis (Aves: Accipitriformes: Accipitridae)

We present a high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of the Japanese sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis), a migratory raptor widely distributed across East Asia. The genome was assembled using a combination of Single-Tube Long Fragment Read (stLFR) sequencing and Hi-C chromatin conformation capture, resulting in a 1.19 Gb genome with a scaffold N50 of 43.17 Mb. Genome completeness assessment using Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) recovered 97.2% of conserved avian genes, indicating a high level of completeness. A total of 20,808 protein-coding genes were predicted, of which 92% were functionally annotated based on multiple public databases. Repetitive elements accounted for 7.95% of the genome, with retroelements forming the major component. Chromosome-level scaffolding enabled the anchoring of 98.9% of the assembled sequences onto 33 chromosomes, including 31 autosomes and the Z and W sex chromosomes. Comparative synteny analysis with A. gentilis revealed a high degree of chromosomal conservation, supporting the structural accuracy of the assembly. All raw sequencing data, genome assembly, and annotation files have been deposited in public repositories. This chromosome-level genome assembly provides a valuable genomic resource for studies of raptor evolution, migration ecology, population genomics, and comparative analyses within Accipitridae.