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<br /> <br />obvious heteromorphy involvingchromd;~me pai <br />some,:pairs were assigned a number'according to theirre)ativelengths, the, <br />largest being chromosome r;<;:They' are"considered as a single unit (e. g. <br />chromosome' 1); since each member of a ,chromosome pair is ",equal in all para-' <br />meters to the other one. Within bony tail , humpback and Utah chubs, chromo- <br />some 19 has a centromere placed in such a manner that i,tchas a short upper arm <br />and a longer upper one. In contrast, the upper and lower arms of this chromo- <br />some in the roundtail chub is about equally divided by the centromere. Chromo- <br />some 17 is unique for the Utah chub, relative to the other species. In the <br />former fish, there is an extremely small short arm especially when compared <br />to the same chromosome obtained from other congeners. This chromosome is also <br />largest in the Utah chub relative to the Colorado River species. <br /> <br />NOR methodology was only applied on chromosome spreads obtained from <br />the native Colorado River species. The results do not indicate any differences <br />between the round ta i 1 and bonyta n chubs but do sepa rate the humpback chub from <br />the others (Fig. 2). An interstitial NOR on the long arm of chromosome 7 Is <br />present in humpback chubs derived from Black Rocks, Colorado, but not in con- <br />specifics originating from the little Colorado River. <br /> <br />DISCUSSION <br /> <br /> <br />Juvenile fishes were a component of this study and, as pointed out <br />earlier, they are difficult to tell apart using external morphology. The <br />cytogenetic results indicate that roundtail chubs are differentiable from <br />bony tail and humpback chubs on the basis of a single chromosome. Further <br />differentiatlon is achieved with the higher resolution NOR technique, which <br />separates not only the bony tail chub from the humpback chub but also the Black <br />Rocks and Little Colorado populations of the latter. Since chromosome char- <br />acters are stable, these findings may have diagnostic value in future studies. <br />If hybrids between any of the examined stocks were to occur in nature, they <br />would be perceivable by cytogenetic analysis. Introgression involving a round- <br />tail chub would yield individuals with a heteromorphic chromosome pair 19, one <br />with a shorter upper arm than the other. If a Utah chub were to be a parent <br />in a hybrid cross, then chromosome pair 17 would include one chromosome with <br />an extremely-reduced lesser arm. Crosses involving humpback chubs are identi- <br />fyable with NOR methodology. Verification of these predictions is in progress. <br /> <br />Tissue culture is now being used in this laboratory to obtain chromosomes. <br />The technique does not require that fish be sacrificed. Instead, analyzable <br />chromosomes are obtained from fin clips which can be taken in the field'and <br />stored on ice in an appropriate nutrient solution for up to two weeks. Fishes <br />can be returned to the environment minutes after capture. Tissue culture offers <br />another atvantage, since cells may also be used for electrophoretic characteri- <br />zation. Consequently, a reasonably complete genetic profile may be established <br />on animals. that must remain in nature, such as endangered species, or are to <br />be kept al ive for. hatchery projects. . <br /> <br /><. ::;:.';:-, ~r ._ <br /> <br />'v::"- _.:.:" <br />