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1 This article was downloaded by: [ ] On: 25 March 2014, At: 06:11 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: Registered office: Mortimer House, Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Bolletino di zoologia Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: The Chromosomes of Some Mediterranean Teleosts: Scorpaenidae, Serranidae, Labridae, Blenniidae, Gobiidae (Pisces Scorpaeniformes, Perciformes) S. Cataudella, M. V. Civitelli & E. Capanna Published online: 14 Sep To cite this article: S. Cataudella, M. V. Civitelli & E. Capanna (1973) The Chromosomes of Some Mediterranean Teleosts: Scorpaenidae, Serranidae, Labridae, Blenniidae, Gobiidae (Pisces Scorpaeniformes, Perciformes), Bolletino di zoologia, 40:3-4, , DOI: / To link to this article: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content ) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

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3 Boll. Zool., 40 : , 1973 THE CHROMOSO3IES OF SOME MEDITERRANEAN TELEOSTS : SCORPAENIDAE, SERRANIDAE, LABRIDAE, BLEhWIIDAE, GOBIIDAE (PISCES - SCORPAENIFORMES, PERCIFORBIES) (*) Viene riferito il nurnero diploide e la morfologia del cariotipo di 11 specie di Teleostei iriediterranei : Scorpaena porcus In = 42, Dicentrarcus labra an = 48, Cotis julis 2n = 45, Crenilabrus nielops In = 40, Ulennius paro 2n = 48, Dhnnius sanguinolenlus In = 48, Blennius jluuiutilis 2n = 48, Gobius niger jozo 2n = 48, Golius cobitis 2n = 40, Cobius puganellus In = 45, Padogobius martensi 2n = 46 ; per Gobius nigricatis non viene riferito il numero diploide, tuttavia la presenza di numerosi metacentrici lo differenzia dagli altri Gobiidae studiati. Viene discussn la interprctazione di coppie cromosomiciic eteromorfe mcsse in evidenza in Labridi e Gohidi. Recently, a series of cytotaxonomic investigations in thc teleosts.were undertaken by us. Species were selcctcd from families presenting particular systematic problems which may be further clarified by caryological data. Thus far, in fact, caryological information has not becn adequately resorted to for the biological characterization of teleost species and the improvement of our documentation on their evolutionary history. In the present note, some preliminary findings concerning twelve Mediterranean teleost species, whose diploid number has been hitherto unreported, arc described. The material and its sites of origin are listed in table 1. Preparations were made by the air-drying HITOTSUMAC& et al. (10GD) technique for colchicine-treated somatic and gonadal tissues, as modified by CAPASSA and coworkers (1071). When testicular tissue was used, 15 metaphase plates and an equal number of meiotic diakineses I, on an average, were photographed and analyzed. Scorpaena porcus displays, in both the specimens studied here, a caryotypc with 42 chromosomes, madc up of threc metacentric, five subtelocentric and thirtccn acrocentric pairs (plate I a). The chromosome number found for this Scorpaenidae differs from the diploid numbers of spceics belonging to other Scorpaeniformes observed by other workers (nfakino, 1037 ; NOGUSA, 1960 ; POST, 10G7), who reportcd a diploid number 2n = 50 (*) The present paper was presented as a communication at the 5th meeting of tlie 4 Italian study group on Chordate Ihryology and Cytotasonomy 1 - Rome, Xny 25-27t11, '

4 TABLE 1 Examined Species studied and related taxa individuals Sitc of origin and sex+ SCORPAENIFORHES Scorpaenidac Scorpaena porcus L., 1758 PERCIFORMES Serraiidae Dicentrarcus labrax L., 1758 Labridae Crenilabrus melops L., 1758 Coris julh L., 1758 Blenniidne Blenniud paoo Risso, 1810 Blennius sanguinolenfus Pallas, 1814 Blennius jzuuiatilis ASSO, '1801 Gobiidae Gobius niger jozo L., 1758 Gobius paganellus L., 1758 Gobius cobifis Pallasis, 1811 Padogobius martensi (Ciinthcr), 1801 Gobius nigricans (Canestrini), Nar Tirrcno, Kcttuno (Roma) 3 Mar Tirreno, Poce del fiume Marta, Torquinia (Viterbo) 1 1 ** AIar Tirreno, Nettuno (Roma) Mar Tirreno, Civitovecchin Mar Tirreno, S. Marinella Mar Tirreno, S. Marinella Lago di Bracciano (Roma) Mar Tirreno, Nettuno (Roma) Mar Tirreno, S. Akrinclla Mar Tirrcno, Civitavccchia Torrentc Scrivia (Liguria) Lago di Bracciano (Roma) * Sex is not indicated in juvenile forms or immature individuals their sex being impossible to define. ** In the fcmnle phase in the C. giolredi livery.

5 in a Synancejidae and 2n = 48 in some species from the I&migrammidae and Cottidae families. The diploid number proposed by us for Dicentrarcus labrax agrees. with that observed by NOGUSA (1900) in another Serranidae (Coreoperca kazcametari). Actually, in three specimens from Dicentrarcus labrax we have scored 48 chromosomes (plate 11, E) consisting of a subtelocentric pair, and the remainder of acrocentric pairs. It must be stressed that this karyotype with 48 chromosomes is extremely common among bony fishes (CIIIARELLI and CAPANKA, 1978). Among the Labridae studied by us, Crenilabrus melops shows a caryotype with 40 morphologically well defined chromosomes (plate I, b) consisting of one large and four small metacentric pairs; the karyogram is completed by 18 subtelocentric pairs arranged in decreasing length from the largest measuring 3 p to the smallest of 1 p. Another Labridae, Coris julis, displays a different caryogram : 2n = 45 was consistently found in all mctaphase plates, in which a single metacentric stands out among acrocentrics and two submetacentric pairs (Plate 11, F). In the Blenniidae studied herc, the diploid number is invariably 2n = 48 (plate 111, A, By C) ; fundamentally, a11 chromosomes are acro-- centric although some pairs (six in number, both in Blennius sanguinolen- US and Bletttaius pavo) bear short arms, thereby taking up a subtelocentric appearance. In Blennius jluviatilis, Metaphase plates are such as to make morphological diagnoses of chromosomes difficult, so that we failed to establish whether the same number of subtelocentrics are likewise present in this species. We must in fact bear in mind that in this species the largest chromosome measures 2 p. Caryological differences were found, on the contrary, among Gobiidaespecies. In the literature (NOGUSA, 1957 ; KAUR and SRIVASTAVA, 1965 ; POST, 1905) diploid numbers in Gobiidae are reported to vary from 2n = 48. to 2n = 50. In the two males from Gobius nigerjozo (plate I, c), studied by. us, we found a karyotype with 48 chromosomes, three submetacentric pairs measuring 2.5 p ; four subtelocentric pairs ranging from 2 p to 1.5 p ; one small metacentric pair measuring 1 p and sixteen acrocentric pairs. In another species, Gobius cobitis, the karyotype appears to consist of 46 acrocentric chromosomes of about 2 p. Gobius pagattellus displays in all the metapliase (16) examined here in a single female specimen, 45 chromosomes, among which a metacentric alone, devoid of a homologous partner in (he plate, and four submetaeentrics ; the remaining chromosomes are acrocentric. As in Gobius pagaitellus, a similar condition mas detected in Pndogo-

6 3ss Jius martensi (a fresh-water species from the Po region) in which a female and two immature individuals whose sex remained undefined, exhibit a diploid -number In = 4G ; metaphase plates possess a single large metacentric chromosome followed by 3 subtelocentrics, two of which can be paired, while the third one lacks its homologue. Padogobius marteizsi caryogram exhibits, in addition, a pair of small subteloccntrics followed by 10 acrocentric pairs (plate I, d). At present, we cannot indicate the diploid number in Gobius nigricam with precision, because of the low number of metaphase plates obtained from a small-sized individual. Nevertheless, these plates (plate 111, D) display a high number of metacentric chromosomes, thereby suggesting a chromosomal typology thoroughly deviating from that of the other Gobiidae studied here. In this species, too, alarge single metacentric chromosome, lacking its homologue, is found. These unpairable chromosomes observed by us in some gobiids, as well as in the labriid Coris jtilis, seem at once to be liable to be interpreted as sex heterochromosomes, which finds support in the descriptions ( EBE- LIXG and CIIEN, 1070) concerning deep-sca fishes, as well as Fzii2dultts dinphniiiis and P. pnrvipiimis among Cyprinodontidae and other fresh-water - teleosts. Furthermore, the presence of heteromorphous chromosome pairs was reported by CHIARELLI et al. (1060), FONTANA, et al. (1070) in several Cyprinidae and in an anguilliform. However, at the present stage of our studies, we do not think it possible to propose the above interpretation as regards the material under study, both on account of the limited number of observations available, and because of the fact that in Corisjulis itself (in which this phenomenon seems even to be associated with an odd chromosome number) the condition of protogynous hermaphrodite is well known (BACCI and RAZZAUTI, 1957). Obviously, this stimulating problcm of chromosomal heterosomy mill only be solved by further inspection into a greater number of sexually mature individuals in which sex can be unequivocally ascertained. Likewise, further information of a systematic order will be gained through the study, now in progress, of a greater number of species belonging to the families dealt with here. Lastly, it is perhaps worthwhile to stress that more caryological data emerging from future investigations along this line may be of use to ichthyologists engaged in the study of the families invcstigatcd here, above all as concerns Gobiidae. A'ofe added in the proof. When this paper \\-as still in press a paper appeared intitled *Considerations on the systematic position of two species of goby found in

7 Italian fresh watersr by G. GANDOLFI and P. TOXGIORGI (riteneo Parmense - &fa A'afuralia, 9: (1073)). The Authors propose a revision of the gobies of the Italian fresh waters that accords with our cytological findings, REFERENCES I~ACCI G. and RAZZAUTI A., Nature, 181 : CAPANNA E., CATAUDELIA S. and VOLPE R., Boll. Pesm Piscic. Idrobiol., 16: CaxanEm A. B. and CAPANNA E. (eds.), Cufolazonorny and Vertebrate Ecolution. Acadcmic Press, London. CJIIARELLI B., FERRANTELLI 0. and CUCCJII C., l9g0 - Experientia, 25 : EBELING E. W. and CIIEN T. R., Proc. Amer. Fish. SOC., 99: FOXTANA G., CIIIARELLI B. and ROSSI A. C., Caryologia, 23 : ICAun D. and SRIVASTA'A 31. D. L., IOG5 - Caryologia, 18 : HITOTSUXACEI S., SASAKI n1. and OJIMA Y., Jap. J. Genetics, 44 : MAKINO S., Zool. Mag. (Japan), 49 : NOGUSA S., 1057 Jap. J. Iehthyol., 6: NOGUSA S., Nem. Ayog. Univ. Agricol., 3 : I-1G2. POST A., Z. Zool. System. Forsch., 3: June 1, 1913 S. CATAUDELLA M. V. CIVITELLI E. CAPANNA Istituto di Anatomia Comparata dell'universith di Roma Via Borclli 50 I - OOlGl ROXA (Italy)

8 ~ -- Scorpaena porcus L. Crenilabrus melops -_ Gobius niger jozo I. (L.1. Padogobiris rnartensi (Giinlher), -- Plate I - I<sryotrpcs froni a Scorpacniform and from sonic I'crcifornies. Ihlnrged moo x. S. C i < ~ ~ >I. ~ \'. ~ CIVITELLI ~ ~ ~ nnd ~ ~ E. i Ca~nss.i, - The clironiosoiiics of SOIIIE, elc.

9 -4. t;, 4!' E.. l'latc I1 - Soiiintic nictnplmscs froiii scvcral I'crciforines. A = Gobius puguuellics, tlic arrow indicates tlic large rinpirablc nietaccntric ; 15 = I'udogobiirs nznrfemi, tlie arrow indicates tlie Iargc i1iipair:ible iiietaccntric ; C = Gobiits cobifis; I) = Gobiits izigricms, notc tlic wry high nriiiibcr of inctaccntrics and subiiictncentrics iiiiiong which (arrow) a lnrgc iinpnirablc clcniciit ; R = Dieenfrurctts lubm.r, notc (arrows) tlic two sribteloccntric cliroiiiosonic ; 1' = Coris jrtlis, the arrow indicatcs tlic Inrgc, iinpnirablc inctnccntric clironiosoiiic, c~aslics indicate tile two pairs of small siibteloccntric clironiosoiiics. All tlic pliotoniicrograplis arc at tlic sonic enlargetiicnt :%JOO x.

10 ,A B L. -0 ) Platc I11 - Somatic mcttipliascs form two spccics of the genus Blentzizts. A = Dlemitcs scrttgtcirzoletiftts and.il = Uletznitts pro, arrow indicate cliromosoiiics bcaring a subtcrniinal ccntronicrc. C = IlZetitiitts flttciufizis, niciotic diakiiicsis ; 1) = Crenilabrus ttielops, niciotic diakincsis in wliicl~ the biwlcnt arising by pairing of tlic two lnrgc iiictaccntrics is indicntcd by tlic nrrow. PO00 x.