Karyology of 12 Species of North American Cyprinidae (Minnows) from the Southern United States

Abstract

The Cyprinidae (minnows) is the largest family of freshwater fishes in the world, comprising over 2000 species in nearly 200 genera (Nelson 1984). Standard karyotypes (chromosome and arm numbers), however, are only reported for around 250 cyprinid species (LeGrande 1985, Ojima 1985), and there clearly is a need for additional work in this area. Our laboratory has continued its survey of the karyotypic variation in cyprinids endemic to North America, and herein we report some of our recent findings. The North American Cyprinidae probably consists of more than 250 extant species (35–40 genera), with one genus, Notropis, containing at least 110 living representatives. Standard karyotypes have been reported from 59 species, including 24 representatives from Notropis (LeGrande 1985). The entire assemblage exhibits a general uniformity in standard karyotypes; the overwhelming majority of species (including all Notropis so far examined) have a diploid chromosome number of 50 and diploid arm numbers between 92 and 100 (LeGrande 1985). In this paper we present standard karyotypes from an additional 12 North American cyprinid species representing four genera. © 1987, Japan Mendel Society, International Society of Cytology. All rights reserved.