LAUSR

Evolutionarily significant freshwater primitive fish, Chitala chitala (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) is an endangered featherback species with wide distribution in Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome is reported for the first time. The mitogenome of C. chitala was sequenced (16375 bp) and mapped to identify 13 protein coding genes (PCG), 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 rRNA genes (12S and 16SrRNA) and a control region. The ratio of synonymous and non synonymous substitutions (Ka/Ks) indicated that 10 genes evolved under purifying selection. Phylogenetic trees were constructed on the basis of concatenated 12 PCGs to ascertain its taxonomic relatedness with other seven orders along with osteoglossiformes. C. chitala displayed monophyly with other congeners, while Notopterus notopterus (Thailand) and Notopterus notopterus (India) showed marked distinction.