The complete mitochondrial genome of the sand bubbler crab Scopimera globosa and its phylogenetic position.

The mitochondrial genome has become commonly used for the molecular phylogenetic analysis of animals. Most phylogenetic studies on brachyurans using mitogenome sequences have indicated the paraphyly of superfamilies Grapsoidea and Ocypodoidea but taxon sampling remains limited. The phylogenetic position of Scopimera has been tested in several previous studies using nuclear and/or mitochondrial DNA sequences, but the phylogenetic relationship within the family remains to be resolved. We newly sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the sand bubbler crab Scopimera globosa (Ocypodoidea: Dotillidae). Scopimera globosa was clustered with Ilyoplax despite the morphological similarity between Scopimera and Dotilla. The mitochondrial gene order of S. globosa was unique, whereas that of other genera in the family was the same. These results suggest that phylogenetic analysis based on mitogenome sequences and gene order comparison would provide a more robust phylogeny of Dotillidae.