Subterranean Fishes of the World

6945

2025

Scientific Reports

15:8893

© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format

The study of the mitogenome of Neolissochilus pnar, the world’s largest cave fish, uncovered its structural features, gene content and evolutionary dynamics within mahseer. Its mitogenome is of 16,440 base pairs, resembling those of the teleost species and exhibits a high degree of conservation in genes arrangement. It comprises 37 mitochondrial genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes (tRNAs), 2 rRNA genes (rRNAs) and a control region. Notably, the distribution of genes on the L- and H-strands is consistent with that of the typical teleost. The study reveals the lengths and variations in PCGs in mahseer species, displaying a range from 164 to 11,404 bp. The tRNA and rRNA genes and the control region also demonstrate conservation among the species. A robust phylogenetic analysis, employing Bayesian and ASAP methods, supports the classification of N. pnar within the Neolissochilus genus and validates the taxonomic status of this species. Selection pressure analyses indicate positive selection in seven genes: COII , COIII, Cytb, ND1, ND2, ND5 and ND6. These findings suggest the dynamic nature of mitochondrial evolution in mahseer species. The purifying selection preserve essential mitochondrial functions, and additionally, the specific sites in ND5 and ND6 genes undergo episodic positive or diversifying selection, likely in response to environmental changes or selective pressures. In conclusion, this research enriches our understanding of N. pnar visa-vis other mahseers’ mitogenomes, pointing to its possible mitogenome evolution to adaptation to cave environment. Keywords Largest cave fish, Mitogenome, Genes arrangement, Phylogenetic analysis, Selective pressures

1