Background

Scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae) present extraordinary variance in both mitochondrial genome size, structure and content, even when compared to the extreme diversity documented within Mollusca and Bivalvia. In pectinids, mitogenome rearrangements involve protein coding and rRNA genes along with tRNAs, and different genome organization patterns can be observed even at the level of Tribes. Existing pectinid phylogenies fail to resolve some relationships in the family, Chlamydinae being an especially problematic group.

Results

In our study, we sequenced, annotated and characterized the mitochondrial genome of a member of Chlamydinae, Mimachlamys varia—a species of commercial interest and an effective bioindicator—revealing yet another novel gene arrangement in the Pectinidae. The phylogeny based on all mitochondrial protein coding and rRNA genes suggests the paraphyly of the Mimachlamys genus, further commending the taxonomic revision of the classification within the Chlamydinae subfamily. At the scale of the Pectinidae, we found that 15 sequence blocks are involved in mitogenome rearrangements, which behave as separate units.

Conclusions

Our study reveals incongruities between phylogenies based on mitochondrial protein-coding versus rRNA genes within the Pectinidae, suggesting that locus sampling affects phylogenetic inference at the scale of the family. We also conclude that the available taxon sampling does not allow for understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the high variability of mitogenome architecture observed in the Pectinidae, and that unraveling these processes will require denser taxon sampling.