Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Clupeonella abrau (Maliatsky, 1930) (Clupeiformes), an Endemic Freshwater Fish from the Lake Abrau (Russia)

The Abrau sprat (tyulka or sardelka) Clupeonella abrau (Maliatsky, 1930) is an endemic fish of the Lake Abrau (Krasnodar Krai, Russia). The full C. abrau mitochondrial genome (16 650 bp) showed a gene arrangement conserved in Clupeidae and 98.8% similarity with the mitochondrial genome of the related species Black and Caspian Sea sprat C. cultriventris from the Black Sea. The COX1 gene sequence was additionally studied in a museum specimen collected in the Lake Abrau in 1938. Variability in modern Abrau sprat COX1 gene locus was estimated at approximately 0.15%, the difference between C. abrau and C. cultriventris was 1.2%, and the difference between the museum and modern C. abrau specimens from the Lake Abrau was 0.92%. The study confirmed that the Abrau sprat is present in the fish community and is capable of reproducing in the lake. Various scenarios were proposed to explain colonization of the Lake Abrau by C. abrau.