Complete mitochondrial genomes of three Neotropical sleeper gobies: Eleotris amblyopsis, E. picta and Hemieleotris latifasciata (Gobiiformes: Eleotridae)

Abstract

We report the first complete mitochondrial genomes of three species of eleotrid fishes from the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds of Panama: Eleotris amblyopsis, E. picta, and Hemieleotris latifasciata. The three species have similar mitochondrial genomes with identical gene order; however, there are differences in the length of control region, 16S rRNA, and in seven of the tRNAs. In addition, ATP8 is one codon shorter in E. picta than in E. amblyopsis or H. latifasciata. We infer a phylogeny for Gobiiformes based on all mitochondrial protein-coding genes, which supports the monophyly of Eleotridae but does not recover Neotropical members of Eleotris as a distinct clade.