Complete mitochondrial genome and the phylogenetic position of the bighead pennah croaker Pennahia macrocephalus (Perciformes: Sciaenidae)

The complete mitogenome of the bighead pennah croaker Pennahia microcephalus was first determined in this study. It is 16,508 bp in length with the typical gene order and transcriptional direction in vertebrates containing 37 genes. The overall nucleotide composition is 27.5% A; 31.2% C; 16.0% G, and 25.3% T. The sizes of the 22 tRNA genes range from 68 to 75 bp. Two start (ATC and ATG) and three stop (AGA, TAG, and TAA/TA/T) codons were found in the protein-coding genes. In the Bayesian tree, all nodes were strongly supported based on the complete mitogenomes of 16 species from the family Sciaenidae. The phylogenetic results suggested P. macrocephalus has the closest relationship to the silver croaker P. argentata, a species from the same genus.