Karyology of Mugil liza and M. curema from Venezuela

Abstract

Karyotypes of Mugil liza and M. curema from Venezuela were studied. M. liza karyotype is 2n=48 acrocentric chromosomes, but M. curema is 2n=24, containing one submetacentric and 11 metacentric pairs. The chromosomic complement described for M. liza constitutes the first report for the species and coincides with the modal karyotype (2n=48) in the Mugilidae family. Venezuelan M. curema karyotype differs in number and shape from M. curema from Louisiana (USA), which has been reported to have a complement 2n=28 (10 metacentric pairs, two subtelocentric pairs and two acrocentric pairs).