Chromosome-level genome of the three-spot damselfish, Dascyllus trimaculatus

Abstract

Damselfishes (Family: Pomacentridae) are a group of ecologically important, primarily coral reef fishes that include over 400 species. Damselfishes have been used as model organisms to study recruitment (anemonefishes), the effects of ocean acidification (spiny damselfish), population structure and speciation (Dascyllus). The genus Dascyllus includes a group of small bodied species, and a complex of relatively larger bodied species, the Dascyllus trimaculatus species complex that comprises several species including D. trimaculatus itself. The three-spot damselfish, D. trimaculatus is a widespread and common coral reef fish species found across the tropical Indo-Pacific. Here we present the first genome assembly of this species. This assembly contains 910 Mb, 90% of the bases are in 24 chromosome-scale scaffolds, and the BUSCO score of the assembly is 97.9%. Our findings confirm previous reports of a karyotype of 2n = 47 in D. trimaculatus in which one parent contributes 24 chromosomes and the other 23. We find evidence that this karyotype is the result of a heterozygous Robertsonian fusion. We also find that the D. trimaculatus chromosomes are each homologous with single chromosomes of the closely related clownfish species, Amphiprion percula. This assembly will be a valuable resource in the population genomics and conservation of Damselfishes, and continued studies of the karyotypic diversity in this clade.