KARYOLOGY OF PIKEPERCH (SANDER LUCIOPERCA) IN THE SOUTH CASPIAN SEA

Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) is one of the economic fish species in the Caspian Sea, with no official report on its chromosome preparation and karyotype formula. For the metaphase preparation, 29 fry specimens of the fish weighting 10-25geach were used. Colchicine 0.01% at 0.7ml/100g of fish weight was injected in the muscular tissues. After 180 minutes, kidney and gill tissues were removed and hypotonized in KCL 0.075 M for 40 minutes, fixed with Carnoy mixture for 18-20 hours, homogenized and dropped on the slides, and stained with Giemsa 20% for 30 minutes. The prepared slides were swept by objective X100 light photomicroscope. The results showed that the chromosome number of this species is 2n = 48 and the chromosome arms is NF = 76. The karyotype formula of the species was found to be 2n = 1m + 13sm + 4st + 6a. Comparing the results of the study with those of other researchers showed that the Pikeperch chromosome number in the South Caspian Sea is similar to the fish in other parts of the world but the type of chromosomes and karyotype formula is different