Mitochondrial genomes and phylogeny of the ocean sunfishes (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae)

Abstract

We determined the complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial genomes for the three currently recognized species of ocean sunfish: Mola mola, Masturus lanceolatus, and Ranzania laevis (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae). Each genome contained the 37 genes as found in teleosts, with the typical gene order in teleosts. Bayesian, maximum-likelihood, and maximum-parsimony analyses were conducted with the data set comprising concatenated nucleotide sequences from 36 genes (excluding the ND6 gene) of three molids and four outgroups (three tetraodontiforms plus a caproid). The resultant trees supported monophyly of the Molidae and its intrarelationships ((Mola, Masturus), Ranzania), which were congruent with previous morphology-based hypotheses.