Chromosome-level genome assembly of the Amazonian native fish red-bellied pacu (Piaractus brachypomus)

Piaractus brachypomus (red-bellied pacu), native to the Amazon River Basin, is widely known for its rapid growth, disease resistance, and cost-effective feeding, which have led to its widespread introduction and high commercial value worldwide. Despite this, the lack of a reference genome has hindered both genetic and evolutionary studies, as well as the genetic improvement of aquaculture traits. Here, to address this gap, we report the first chromosome-level genome assembly of P. brachypomus using PacBio HiFi long-reads and Hi-C sequencing technologies. The final genome assembly has a total size of 1.34 Gb and exhibits high continuity, with contig N50 of 40.61 Mb. Approximately 99.35% of assembled sequences were anchored into 27 chromosomes, with a BUSCO completeness score of 99.8%. Genome annotation identified 44.83% of repetitive elements and predicted 25,501 protein-coding genes with 99.2% receiving functional annotations. Overall, these findings offer a framework for evolutionary studies and genetic improvement, facilitating marker-assisted and genome-wide selection for the sustainable enhancement of P. brachypomus aquaculture stocks.