Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887).

The migratory species Piaractus Mesopotamicus, popularly known as the pacu, was determined to have a complete mitochondrial genome of 16,722 bp with 45% GC content. The genome contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a 1048 bp Control Region (D-loop). Almost all the PCGs used the standard ATG start codon, except for Cox1 that used a GTG start codon. Five of the 13 PCGs had a TAA stop codon, two had the incomplete stop codon TA- (Atp6 and Cox3), and five had the incomplete stop codon T-- (Nd2, Cox2, Nd3, Nd4, and Cytb). AGG was the stop codon of Cox1.