Complete mitochondrial genome of the beluga whale Delphinapterus leucas (Cetacea: Monodontidae)

The beluga whale Delphinapterus leucas (Mammalia: Cetacea: Monodontidae) is a small, toothed, Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean threatened by human activities and environmental contamination. Herein, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome sequence of D. leucas , comprising 16,386 bp encoding the typical set of 37 mitochondrial genes, one replication origin, and a putative control region. It exhibits the classic vertebrate mitochondrial gene arrangement and demonstrated the highest similarity with the mitochondrial genome of the narwhal Monodon monoceros , a member of the only other extant genus in the Monodontidae family. Phylogenetic analysis using the 35 available Odontoceti (toothed whale) mitochondrial genomes clustered D. leucas with M. monoceros , with a tree topology that accorded well with traditional and recent molecular taxonomies. These data will provide information fundamental to conservation genetic studies of this endangered Arctic whale.