Complete mitochondrial genome of Zebra tilapia, Tilapia buttikoferi

We determined the complete mitochondrial genome of Tilapia buttikoferi, which was 16,577 bp in length with an A + T content of 53.0%, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and a complete control region. The gene arrangement was similar to that of typical fishes. The total base composition of the mitogenome was 25.6% T, 30.8% C, 27.4% A and 16.2% G. Of the 13 protein-coding genes, 12 genes start with an ATG codon, except for COX1 with GTG. Seven (ND1, ND2, COX1, ATPase8, ATPase6, ND4L and ND6) used TAA or AGA as the termination codon, whereas six (COX2, COX3, ND3, ND4, ND5 and cyt b) had incomplete stop codon T. Its control region was atypical in being short at 861 bp, and contained TACAT motif and one microsatellite-like region (TA)7. This mitogenome sequence data may be useful for phylogenetic and systematic analyses within the family Cichlaidae.