An improved chromosome-scale genome assembly of whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

The whiteleg shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei ) is one of the most economically significant species in global aquaculture. We present a high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly for L. vannamei , generated by integrating PacBio HiFi, Nanopore ultra-long, and Hi-C sequencing data. The final assembly spans 1.95 Gb (contig N50: 1.97 Mb), with approximately 97.25% of sequences anchored to 44 pseudochromosomes. Repetitive sequences constitute approximately 1.195 Gb, representing 71.95% of the genome. We annotated a total of 26,830 protein-coding genes, 23,952 of which were functionally characterized. The assembly exhibits exceptional completeness, achieving BUSCO scores of 70.98% (genome mode) and 69.80% (protein mode). This reference genome will serve as a fundamental resource for future genetic research on key economic traits and molecular breeding applications in L. vannamei .