Aihuan Guo

Abstract Hemibarbus maculatus, a keystone cyprinid species widely distributed across Asian freshwater ecosystems, holds dual significance as an economically valuable food fish and an ecological regulator. In this study we present its first chromosome-level genome assembly by integrating PacBio HiFi reads and Hi-C scaffolding. The 1.08 Gb assembly achieves exceptional continuity with a scaffold N50 of 43.84 Mb, where 98.23% sequences are anchored to 25 pseudochromosomes.

1. Introduction The Oujiang River (118°45′–121°00′E, 27°28′–28°48′N), situated in southern Zhejiang Province, China, ranks as the second-largest river in the region [1, 2]. With a total length of 388 km and a drainage area of 18,000 km2 [3], it serves multiple critical functions, including drinking water supply, hydroelectric power generation, flood control, agricultural irrigation, and tourism. Historically, the river supported rich fish biodiversity, with 111 species recorded in the 1970s [1].

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