Species of the order Anabantiformes are widely distributed across southern and eastern Asia, including important food fish such as gouramis, climbing perch, and snakeheads. Whole genome sequencing from a wide range of representatives of the Anabantiformes will used to study phylogenetic relationships and genome evolution in this clade. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/