Background and aims: Sillago sihama is one of the commercially important fish species and the mitochondrial genome of S. sihama was determined.
Results: The mitogenome of S. sihama is 16,599 bp in length. It contains 37 mitochondrial genes (2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 13 protein-coding genes) as found in other vertebrates. It represents the first complete mitogenome accessioned for Sillago fishes (GenBank Accession No. JQ048935). The structure and organization of the control region (D-loop) in S. sihama is similar to that of other teleost fish and vertebrates (all containing conserved sequence block and high variation block).
Conclusion: The phylogenetic analyses based on the mtDNA sequence of S. sihama supported a close relationship with Carangidae, consistent with taxonomic hypothesis based on morphology. Moreover, the high sequence variability of control region (haplotype diversity, H(d) = 1.000) indicated the potential utility as marker for population-level studies.