A chromosome-level genome assembly of the chemosymbiotic species Rugalucina vietnamica (Lucinida: Lucinidae)

Rugalucina vietnamica is one of the representative symbiotic bivalves in marine chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. The species is concentrated along the Beibu Gulf-Qiongzhou Strait coastal region in the western Pacific, making it an ideal model for studying the evolution and dispersal of coastal benthic fauna in the South China Sea. However, the lack of a high-quality reference genome has limited the identification of genome-wide genetic variation and hindered population genomic investigations. In this study, we report a high-quality chromosome-level genome of R. vietnamica, generated by integrating PacBio, Illumina, and high-resolution chromosome conformation capture sequencing. The final assembled genome spans 1.23 Gb, with a scaffold N50 of 78 Mb, and was successfully anchored onto 17 chromosomes. BUSCO assessment recovered 96.50% of conserved metazoan genes, indicating high completeness. Genome annotation further revealed that transposable elements account for 65.56% of the genome, and a total of 18,649 protein-coding genes were predicted.