Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of Amur Pike (Esox reichertii)

Amur pike (Esox reicherti) is endemic to the Heilongjiang River system in Northeast Asia. Serving as a top predator in its ecosystem, Amur pike carries substantial significance in ecological, economic, and cultural dimensions. Molecular studies have firmly established that Esociformes is the sister group of Salmoniformes. Notably, unlike Salmoniformes, Esociformes has not undergone genomic duplication. In this study, we reported a chromosome-level genome assembly of Amur pike, the size of which is 976.47 Mb with a contig N50 of 30.76 Mb. Using Hi-C interaction information, a total of 948.05 Mb (98.51%) of the assembled sequences was successfully anchored and ordered onto 25 pseudochromosomes, ranged from 22.85 Mb to 56.71 Mb. Further analysis identified 368.55 Mb of repetitive sequences and 25,824 protein-coding genes in the genome. Among them, 98.80% (25,515) of the genes were functionally annotated. This high-quality genome could be a valuable resource for future studies of Amur pike. Moreover, it lays a robust groundwork for comparative genomics involving pikes and salmonids.