Abstract

Edible red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus) is an endemic species of echinoderm distributed along the Chilean coasts. This resource has been overexploited in recent years, depleting their natural populations. At present, there are few reported gene sequences available in public databases, restricting the molecular studies associated with aquaculture for this species. The aim of this study was to present the first annotated reference transcriptome of L. albus using NGS technologies and the differential expression transcripts analysis of the evaluated tissues. The transcriptome data obtained in this study will serve as a reference for future molecular research in the edible red sea urchin and other sea urchin species.