Pentastomids are a poorly studied group of parasitic crustaceans with growing relevance to wildlife conservation and public health. Despite their zoonotic potential and their association with declining snake populations in the southeastern United States, genomic data for this group remain limited. This study presents the first annotated reference genomes for three pentastome species: Kiricephalus coarctatus, Porocephalus crotali, and the invasive Raillietiella orientalis, representing two native and one non-native lineage. Specimens were collected from deceased snake hosts across Florida and Georgia. DNA was extracted and sequenced using Illumina short reads (NovaSeq) and long reads generated from PacBio (Revio) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (MinION). The resulting assemblies ranged from 156 to 222 Mbp and showed high completeness, with BUSCO scores between 90–92%. Together, these analyses establish foundational genomic resources for pentastomes and offer a framework for future studies exploring host-parasite coevolution, invasive parasite adaptation, and the broader evolutionary relationships between these enigmatic parasites and other crustaceans.
Stephanie “Stevie” Villella
Dr. Robert Fitak, Advisor
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