Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the tropical abalone (Haliotis asinina)

Abalone (family Haliotidae) are an ecologically and economically significant group of marine gastropods that can be found in tropical and temperate waters. To date, only a few Haliotis genomes are available, all belonging to temperate species. Here, we provide the first chromosome-scale abalone genome assembly and the first reference genome of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina. The combination of PacBio long-read HiFi sequencing and Dovetail’s Omni-C sequencing allowed the chromosome-level assembly of this genome, while PacBio Isoform sequencing across five tissue types enabled the construction of high-quality gene models. This assembly resulted in 16 pseudo-chromosomes spanning over 1.12 Gb (98.1% of total scaffolds length), N50 of 67.09 Mb, the longest scaffold length of 105.96 Mb, and a BUSCO completeness score of 97.6%. This study identified 25,422 protein-coding genes and 61,149 transcripts. In an era of climate change and ocean warming, this genome of a heat-tolerant species can be used for comparative genomics with a focus on thermal resistance. This high-quality reference genome of H. asinina is a valuable resource for aquaculture, fisheries, and ecological studies.