Complete mitochondrial genome of Copadichromis virginalis (Cichlidae)

In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of Copadichromis virginalis (Cichlidae fish). The mitochondrial genome is 16 704 bp in length and has a base composition of A (27.6%), T (30.1%), C (15.7%) and G (26.6%), demonstrating a slight bias of high AT content (57.6%). It contains 35 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and two rRNAs) and a non-coding A + T rich region (D-loop region). The mitochondial genome of Copadichromis virginalis presents a clear bias in nucleotied composition with a positive AT-skew and a negative GC-skew. Except for ND6 gene, all other protein-coding genes were located on the H-strand. ND4 gene and ND4L gene were overlapped by 5 bp, ATP8 gene and ATP6 gene were overlapped by 9 bp. The nucleotide sequence of 13 protein-coding genes of Copadichromis virginalis and other 19 Cichlidae species were used for phylogenetic analysis. The result indicated Copadichromis virginalis a close relationship with species Astatotilapia calliptera.