ERGA-BGE reference genome of Holothuria (Platyperona) sanctori: a sea cucumber from the Mediterranean Sea

<ns3:p> <ns3:italic>Holothuria sanctori</ns3:italic> is a common species of sea cucumber found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. It typically inhabits shallow rocky and sandy seabeds, where it plays a key ecological role as a sediment engineer processing organic matter ts and thereby contributing to nutrient cycling. As an edible species, <ns3:italic>H. sanctori</ns3:italic> is harvested in several countries. Although it is currently listed as a species of "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List, the absence of a regulatory framework to prevent overexploitation poses a risk of population decline. Given its ecological significance and economic value <ns3:italic>, H. sanctori</ns3:italic> has become a focal point in both marine conservation and aquaculture research. The entirety of the genome sequence was assembled into 23 contiguous chromosomal pseudomolecules. This chromosome-level assembly encompasses 1.2 Gb, composed of 135 contigs and 46 scaffolds, with contig and scaffold N50 values of 19.9 Mb and 50.7 Mb, respectively. </ns3:p>