Draft sequencing and assembly of the genome of the world's largest fish, the whale shark: Rhincodon typus Smith 1828.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) has by far the largest body size of any elasmobranch (shark or ray) species. Therefore, it is also the largest extant species of the paraphyletic assemblage commonly referred to as fishes. As both a phenotypic extreme and a member of the group Chondrichthyes - the sister group to the remaining gnathostomes, which includes all tetrapods and therefore also humans - its genome is of substantial comparative interest. Whale sharks are also listed as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species and are of growing popularity as both a target of ecotourism and as a charismatic conservation ambassador for the pelagic ecosystem. A genome map for this species would aid in defining effe

SUBMITTER: Read TD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5513125 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature