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Dryad

Data from: Reference genome of the Californian trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti Bond 2008 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Euctenizidae)

Abstract

We present a reference genome annotation for the trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti. This species, described in 2008, is endemic to the highly fragmented coastal dune habitats of Northern California from Monterey to the San Francisco Bay Area. Trapdoor spiders are ideal taxa for landscape-scale genomic studies owing to their extreme site fidelity and limited dispersal capabilities; these same characteristics make them prone to extinction. Dune habitats along California's coast are a diverse yet fragile ecosystem, sensitive to shoreline development, rising sea levels, and invasive species. Genomic studies of species like A. stephencolberti can reveal novel areas of endemism and high conservation value that may not be evident in species with wider ranges and greater dispersal capabilities. As part of the California Conservation Genomics Project, we constructed the A. stephencolberti reference genome from high-quality long-read sequences, scaffolded with proximity ligation Omni-C data. This dataset is the resultant genome-automated annotation generated using the NCBI refseq pipeline and RNA-seq data from whole adults. It comprises 14,067 genes with a BUSCO annotation completeness of 95.56%. This resource, the first for the family Euctenizidae, will facilitate future study and resulting conservation actions of A. stephencolberti and other Aptostichus sp. populations associated with the rapidly changing California coastal dune ecosystem.