Mitochondrial genomes of the South American electric knifefishes (Order Gymnotiformes).

Three complete mitochondrial genomes of South American electric fishes (Gymnotiformes), derived from high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), are reported herein. We report the complete mitochondrial genome of the bluntnose knifefish n.sp. VERD, determined from newly sequenced data. We also provide the complete mitochondrial genomes for and the electric eel , assembled from previously published transcriptome data. The mitochondrial genomes of n.sp. VERD and have 13 protein-coding genes, 1 D-loop, 2 ribosomal RNAs and 22 transfer RNAs, and are 16,547, 16,667 and 16,906 bp in length, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the eight available mitochondrial genomes of gymnotiform fishes shows to be the sister lineage of other gymnotiformes, contradicting the "Sinusoidea" hypothesis that Apteronotidae and Sternopygidae are sister taxa.