Complete mitochondrial genome of sea urchin: Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus (Camarodonta, Strongylocentrotidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus (A. Agassiz, 1863) is determined. The genome is a circular molecule of 15,705 bp in length and the gene content and order are identical to those of other strongylocentrotid species. Lengths of all protein coding genes (PCGs) are identical to those of M. nudus. S. droebachiensis and S. pallidus but ND6 has a deletion of 3 amino acids at the C-terminal. The nucleotide composition of the genome shows a bias toward A + T (59.8%) and the A + T bias in PCGs (59.4%) is slightly higher than the other strongylocentrotid species. The mitogenome of H. pulcherrimus provides genomic information of the single species genus, Hemicentrotus and helps understand the genetic relationship and the evolution of the genus in relation to the other genera of the family Strongylocentrotidae.