Chromosome-level assembly of the Arabian killifish as a novel biomedical model species.

The Arabian killifish (Aphaniops dispar) is an excellent model for studying human diseases such as fungal infections and cancer progression. The embryos possess a transparent chorion for live imaging and display an extended period of independent feeding (13 days post-fertilisation). They also exhibit broad thermal tolerance which enables live imaging at physiologically relevant human temperatures. However, omics resources for this species remain limited and restricts its use in genomics studies. We generated a 1.45 GB high-quality reference assembly with 24 chromosome-level scaffolds and N50 score of 60.64 Mb by combining long-read, long-range, and short-read sequencing. The A. dispar genome exhibits a high level of homozygosity (95.6%) with BUSCO gene completeness scores of 99.2% and 97.5% for the Actinopterygii and Cyprinodontiformes lineages, respectively. The genome is highly repetitive (58.7%) and the majority of these are DNA transposons. The mitochondrial genome is 81.55% similar to that of Aphanius iberus (the Spanish toothcarp), with minor structural modifications. A. dispar exhibits highly conserved synteny with Fundulus heteroclitus within the Cyprinodontoidei clade. Together, these findings provide a valuable genomic resource for comparative genomics within the teleost community.