Karyotype and evolution analysis of vulerable fish Onychostoma lini from China

The karyotype and chromosomal characteristics of the vulnerable species Onychostoma lini (Wu 1939) from China were studied by examining metaphase chromosome spreads obtained from kidney. According to the 200 metaphase spreads from 10 specimen of Onychostoma lini, captured from the Duliu river (located in the Pearl River system), China, the chromosome formula in the species might be described as 2n=50=12M+8SM+4ST+26T and FN=70. The mean values of chromosome lengths in Onychostoma lini ranged from 7.975 to 14.270 μm, and the haploid chromosome length of the species was 289.111±27.767 μm. This study provides first knowledge on karyotypes in Onychostoma lini which may facilitate aquaculture, conservation practices of the species. Also, the evolutionary level of Onychostoma lini is preliminarily analyzed based on the karyotype of the species in this paper.