Back

ERGA-BGE Reference Genome of Phyllidia flava (Nudibranchia: Phyllidiidae), a Relict Species Endemic to the Mediterranean Sea

Galia-Camps, C.; Pontes, M.; Marcussen, T.; Struck, T. H.; Oomen, R.; Böhne, A.; Monteiro, R.; Aguilera, L.; Gut, M.; Ferreira, F. C.; Cruz, F.; Gomez-Garrido, J.; Alioto, T. S.; De Panis, D.

2025-01-15 genomics
10.1101/2025.01.14.632929 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Phyllidia flava, the only Mediterranean representative of the otherwise Indo-Pacific family Phyllididae, is a radula-less dorid nudibranch that feeds exclusively on toxic sponges, from which it derives defensive and camouflage compounds. Although not currently listed as endangered, this relict species remains vulnerable due to its restricted distribution and the rising temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea. A total of 13 contiguous chromosomal pseudomolecules were assembled, resulting in a chromosome-level genome spanning 1.9 Gb. This assembly comprises 2,032 contigs and 62 scaffolds, with contig and scaffold N50 values of 2.4 Mb and 169.7 Mb, respectively. This reference genome will serve as a valuable resource for conservation efforts, provide a robust calibration point for studying nudibranch phylogenetics based on the Tethys Ocean closure, and lay the groundwork for research into toxic prey diet specialisation.

Matching journals

The top 5 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.