Cytogenetic studies on six species of the leuciscine genus Pseudophoxinus Bleeker, 1860 (Teleostei, Cyprinidae)

Abstract

A study of the cytogenetics of Pseudophoxinus battalgilae Bogutskaya, 1997, P. burduricus Küçük, Gülle, Güçlü, Çiftçi & Erdoğan, 2013, P. egridiri (Karaman, 1972), P. evliyae Freyhof & Özuluğ, 2009, P. fahrettini Freyhof & Özuluğ, 2009 and P. maeandri (Ladiges, 1960) was conducted by means of Giemsa staining, C- and AgNOR-banding procedures. Diploid chromosome numbers of analyzed species were found to be the same (2n = 50) but their karyotypes formulae were different. For all species examined, the largest chromosome pair of the complements was subtelo-acrocentric. Heteromorphic sex chromosomes were not detected in any of the studied species. C-bands were found on the centromeres of several chromosomes in all studied species. NORs were detected in one pair of submetacentric chromosomes in P. burduricus, P. egridiri and P. fahrettini, and in two pairs of submetacentric chromosomes in P. battalgilae, P. evliyae and P. maeandri. Further, NOR polymorphisms were observed in some specimens of P. battalgilae, P. burduricus, P. evliyae and P. fahrettini for number, location and size. This study may contribute to other leuciscine cytogenetic studies.

Keywords:

• Leuciscinae
• Pseudophoxinus
• karyotype
• constitutive heterochromatin
• nucleolus organizer region
• Anatolia

Acknowledgments

Our gratitude is extended to Dr S. Serkan Güçlü (Süleyman Demirel University, Turkey) for his contribution of the valuable information about localities. Our thanks also to Ali Ayata for his assistance during the fieldwork, and to Dr Sevgi Ünal (Gazi University, Turkey) for her laboratory support.